MUNICIPAL 
GOVERNMENT 

OF  THE  CITY  OF 

NEW  YORK 


BAKER  £3"  WARE 


REESE  LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


Class 


BIRD'S-EYE  VIEW   O: 


ATLANTIC  OCEAN 


HE   FIVE   BOROUGHS 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

OF  THE  CITY  OF 

NEW  YORK 


BY 

ABBY  G.   BAKER 

• 

AND 

ABBY  H.  WARE 


GINN    &   COMPANY 

BOSTON   .   NEW   YORK   .  CHICAGO    .  LONDON 


COPYRIGHT,  1906 
BY  ABBY  G.  BAKER 


ALL    RIGHTS    RESERVED 


66.4 


gtftenaum 


GINN   &   COMPANY  •    PRO- 
PRIETORS  •  BOSTON  •  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

During  the  past  few  years  a  widespread  interest,  not 
only  in  this  country  but  in  Europe,  has  been  awakened  in  the 
subject  of  civic  betterment.  The  means  by  which  it  could 
be  attained  has  been  discussed  in  frequent  public  meetings, 
and  numberless  reformations  in  municipal  governments  have 
been  inaugurated  ;  but  it  is  generally  conceded  by  those 
who  have  given  the  matter  the  most  careful  consideration 
that  the  National  Educational  Association  struck  the  ulti- 
mate solution  of  the  problem  when  it  indorsed  the  proposi- 
tion to  introduce  the  study  of  city  government  in  the  public 
schools.  It  was  forcibly  shown  at  that  time  that  the  best 
guarantee  of  better  civic  conditions  in  the  future  lies  in 
familiarizing  the  school  boys  and  girls  of  to-day  with  the 
administration  of  their  own  city  government.  Recognizing 
this  fact,  the  Board  of  Education  of  New  York  City  has 
greatly  enlarged  its  course  of  study  in  regard  to  national, 
state,  and  local  history  and  civics.  In  the  requirements  of 
the  latest  syllabus  for  the  eighth  grade  of  the  public  schools 
the  governments  of  the  state  and  of  the  city  of  New  York 
are  made  a  part  of  the  course  of  study.  The  three  depart- 
ments of  the  city  government  and  the  chief  offices  of  the 
city  are  particularized,  with  the  suggestion  that  increasing 
emphasis  be  laid  "  upon  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  a 
citizen  as  a  member  of  a  family,  as  a  pupil,  as  employer 
or  employed,  as  a  voter,  or  as  officeholder."  For  the  high 

iii 

166705 


iv  PREFACE 

school  the  syllabus  recommends  that  a  generous  amount  of 
time  should  be  used  in  a  thorough  study  of  civics,  and  among 
the  subjects  assigned  is  the  charter  of  Greater  New  York. 

Primarily,  Municipal  Government  of  the  City  of  New 
York  was  written  to  supply  the  text-book  required  in  the 
classes  thus  designated,  and  as  it  closely  follows  the  charter 
of  Greater  New  York  in  treating  the  different  branches  of 
the  city  government,  it  will  be  found  a  convenient  hand- 
book for  that  study ;  second,  it  was  written  with  the  expec- 
tation that  it  would  be  of  great  value  to  those  who  take  the 
city  civil  service  examinations,  and  of  equal  value  also  to 
the  members  of  municipal  leagues  and  other  civic  organiza- 
tions outside  as  well  as  in  the  City  of  New  York. 

After  an  introductory  chapter  telling  the  story  of  New 
York  under  the  Dutch  and  under  the  English,  and  the  first 
settlement  of  Manhattan  and  adjacent  territory,  with  a  brief 
resume  of  the  city's  subsequent  growth,  the  book  takes  up 
the  branches  of  the  municipal  government,  following  the 
plan  of  the  city  charter.  In  a  realistic  manner  it  places 
before  the  pupil  the  workings  of  the  city  government.  It 
teaches  him  to  be  a  close  observer  of  actual  conditions.  It 
sets  forth  in  outline  the  various  city  charters  of  the  past 
and  explains  how  the  charter  of  Greater  New  York  was 
made  and  adopted  ;  it  shows  how  the  city  elections  are  con- 
ducted and  whya  voter  should  vote  intelligently.  It  describes 
the  duties  of  the  mayor,  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  Board  of 
Estimate  and  Apportionment,  the  Board  of  Education,  as 
well  as  those  of  other  officials  and  executive  boards  of  the 
city.  It  tells  of  the  work  and  institutions  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Public  Charities,  how  the  Tenement  House  De- 
partment is  managed  and  the  nature  of  the  statutes  relative 


PREFACE  V 

to  tenements,  how  the  Police  and  Fire  Departments  are 
managed,  shows  how  the  city  is  supplied  with  water,  and  so 
on,  through  all  the  departments  of  the  city  government. 
Each  chapter  is  introduced  with  a  short  sketch  of  the  early 
history  of  the  subject  under  discussion,  and  closes  with  a 
summary  which  fixes  in  mind  the  main  facts  treated  in 
the  chapter. 

The  illustrations  of  the  book  are  also  of  an  educational 
character.  Not  only  has  the  work  of  the  different  depart- 
ments been  shown  in  them,  together  with  numerous  school- 
houses  and  school  features  of  the  five  boroughs,  but  many 
important  buildings  of  the  city  and  attractions  of  the  parks 
have  also  been  reproduced  in  order  to  give  the  pupils  a  more 
intimate  acquaintance  with  them  and  to  make  them  familiar 
to  the  readers  who  do  not  reside  in  New  York  City. 

Grateful  acknowledgment  is  here  made  to  the  following 
named  men  for  their  generous  help  in  securing  necessary 
data  to  make  the  work  an  accurate  and  reliable  text-book : 
to  the  Honorable  Henry  Litchfield  West,  Commissioner 
of  the  District  of  Columbia,  for  potent  letters  of  introduc- 
tion ;  to  the  Honorable  George  B.  McClellan,  Mayor  of  New 
York  City  ;  to  his  former  secretary,  John  H.  O'Brien,  and 
to  the  heads  of  the  fifteen  executive  departments  of  the  mu- 
nicipal government,  whose  cheerful  helpfulness  and  untiring 
patience  in  explaining  the  mechanism  of  the  various  depart- 
ments, and  in  verifying  the  statements  of  the  book  concern- 
ing them,  made  not  only  the  book  itself  possible  but  added 
inestimably  to  its  value  ;  to  Dr.  James  A.  Canfield,  the  libra- 
rian of  Columbia  University,  whose  excellent  and  kindly 
suggestions  and  unfailing  assistance  were  given  in  all  stages 
of  the  work ;  to  the  city  clerk,  Mr.  Patrick  Scully,  who 


vi  PREFACE 

made  accessible  many  of  the  city  records  and  files  which 
otherwise  would  have  been  inaccessible,  and  who  in  numer- 
ous other  ways  gave  assistance  in  substantiating  the  data 
for  the  book ;  to  the  secretary  of  the  Civil  Service  Com- 
mission ;  to  the  clerk  of  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Appor- 
tionment ;  to  Mr.  A.  Emerson  Palmer,  the  secretary  of 
the  Board  of  Education ;  to  Mr.  G.  L.  Sterling,  Assistant 
Corporation  Counsel;  to  Attorney  Albert  E.  Hadlock ;  to 
Mr.  George  Rice,  chief  engineer  of  the  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
mission ;  and  to  the  secretaries  of  the  New  York  Clearing 
House,  the  Stock,  Produce,  and  Maritime  exchanges,  and 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  all  of  whom  lent  valuable  aid 
during  the  preparation  of  the  book. 

Credit  must  also  be  given  to  the  following :  to  Harper 
&  Brothers,  for  permission  to  reproduce  the  cuts  from  Felix 
Oldboy's  Tour  around  New  York;  to  A.  S.  Barnes  &  Co., 
for  permission  to  reproduce  the  picture  of  the  first  ferry 
on  Long  Island,  from  Lamb's  History  of  New  York  City ; 
to  the  New  York  Zoological  Society,  for  allowing  the  use, 
for  illustration,  of  certain  copyrighted  pictures  of  animals 
and  features  in  the  Zoological  Park ;  and  to  Messrs.  Van 
Horn  and  Sawtelle,  for  the  use  of  their  copyrighted  picture 
of  Bellevue  Hospital. 

To  one  and  all  sincerest  thanks  are  returned. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  I.    THE    ISLAND   THAT   SOLD   FOR   TWENTY-FOUR 

DOLLARS 3 

The  Coming  of  Henry  Hudson.  The  Dutch  Settlement  in 
America.  The  First  Direcktors-General.  The  Purchase  of  the 
Island.  Other  Direcktors-General.  Direcktor-General  Peter  Stuy- 
vesant.  Improvements  made  during  Direcktor  Stuyvesant's  Ad- 
ministration. The  English  Invasion.  The  Change  in  the  Name 
of  the  Colony.  The  City  under  the  English.  The  Era  of  the 
Revolution  and  Subsequent  Growth  of  the  City.  Summary. 

CHAPTER  II.   THE  CHARTER  HISTORY  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW 

YORK 19 

The  Development  of  the  City.  The  Charter  of  a  City.  The 
Dutch  Charters.  The  English  Charters.  The  Adoption  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  State  of  New  York.  The  Formation  of  the  Bor- 
oughs. How  the  Present  Charter  of  the  City  of  New  York  was 
Made.  Summary. 

CHAPTER  III.    ELECTIONS  IN  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK  .     .     29 

Electors'  Rights  in  Colonial  Days.  The  Australian  Voting 
System. .  The  Australian  Ballot.  The  City  Elections.  How  an 
Election  is  Conducted.  Primary  Elections.  Board  of  Elections. 
Registration.  How  the  Voting  is  Done.  Citizenship.  Summary. 

CHAPTER  IV.  THOSE  WHO  MAKE  OUR  LAWS  :  THE  BOARD  OF 

ALDERMEN 40 

The  Legislative  Branch  of  Government.  Scope  of  Municipal 
or  City  Legislation.  The  Board  of  Aldermen.  The  Powers  of  the 
Board  of  Aldermen.  Members  elected  from  the  Aldermanic  Dis- 
tricts. The  President  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen.  Those  who  sit 
on  the  Board  but  have  no  Vote.  Meetings  of  the  Board.  Respon- 
sibilities of  the  Board.  Summary. 


viii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  V.   THE  MAYOR 51 

Importance  of  the  Mayor  as  Chief  Executive  and  Chief  Magis- 
trate of  the  City.  The  Mayoralty  in  Colonial  Days  and  After.  The 
Duties  of  the  Mayor.  The  Mayor's  Veto.  Other  Duties  resting 
upon  the  Mayor.  Summary. 

CHAPTER  VI.   THOSE   WHO    CARRY    OUT    OUR    LAWS  :    THE 

MAYOR  AND  HIS  HELPERS 61 

The  Executive  Branch  of  Government.  Some  Features  of  New 
York  City's  Area,  Population,  and  Wealth.  The  Fifteen  Execu- 
tive Departments.  The  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment. 
The  Commissioners  of  Accounts.  The  Board  of  Assessors.  The 
Board  of  Revision  of  Assessments.  Other  Boards  and  Bureaus. 
Summary. 

CHAPTER  VII.   THE  BOROUGH  PRESIDENTS 73 

The  Formation  of  the  Boroughs.  The  Borough  Presidents. 
Powers  and  Duties.  Appointing  Power.  The  Local  Improvement 
Boards.  The  Necessity  of  a  Borough  President.  Summary. 

CHAPTER  VIII.   THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION      .     .     .     81 

A  Glance  at  the  Early  History  of  the  Schools  of  New  York  City. 
Schools  during  English  Occupancy  of  the  Island.  The  Establish- 
ment of  the  Present  School  System.  Educational  Advantages  of 
New  York  City.  The  University  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
Columbia  University.  The  New  York  University.  The  College 
of  the  City  of  New  York.  The  Normal  College.  Educational 
Societies.  The  Library  System  of  the  City.  Summary. 

CHAPTER  IX.   THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION  (continued}     95 

The  Organization  of  the  Board  of  Education.  The  Board  of 
Education.  Powers  and  Duties.  The  Local  School  Boards.  The 
Superintendent  of  School  Buildings.  The  Superintendent  of 
S^ool  Supplies.  The  City  Superintendent  and  Board  of  Super- 
intendents. Work  of  the  Directors.  Libraries.  Department  of 
Lectures.  Vacation  Schools,  Public  Playgrounds,  Recreation  Cen- 
ters. Summary. 


CONTENTS  ix 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  X.   THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  STREET  CLEANING    .     .109 

Origin  and  Organization  of  the  Department.  The  Commis- 
sioner of  Street  Cleaning.  Cleaning  the  Streets.  Removing  Ice 
and  Snow.  Disposing  of  the  Wastes  of  the  City.  Rubbish. 
Ashes  and  Sweepings.  Other  Uses  for  the  City's  Wastes.  Street 
Sweepings  and  Ashes.  Garbage.  Summary. 

CHAPTER  XI.    THE   DEPARTMENT  OF  WATER  SUPPLY,  GAS, 

AND  ELECTRICITY:   THE  WATER  SUPPLY 119 

Water  Supply  of  New  Amsterdam.  The  Aaron  Burr  Water- 
works. The  Commencement  of  the  Croton  Water  System.  Con- 
struction of  the  First  Dam  and  Aqueduct.  The  Need  for  More 
Water.  The  New  Croton  Dam.  Reservoirs.  New  Aqueduct  and 
the  Route.  Other  Waterworks.  The  Care  of  the  Water  Supply. 
Summary. 

CHAPTER  XII.  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  WATER  SUPPLY,  GAS, 
AND  ELECTRICITY  :  THE  BUREAU  OF  GAS  AND  ELEC- 
TRICITY   134 

Early  Dutch  Methods  of  Lighting.  The  Introduction  of  Oil, 
Gas,  and  Electricity.  The  Department  of  Water  Supply,  Gas,  and 
Electricity.  Lighting  the  City  at  the  Present  Time.  Public  Lamps 
in  the  Parks.  The  Electrical  Bureau.  The  Third  Rail.  Summary. 

CHAPTER  XIII.   THE  POLICE  DEPARTMENT 144 

The  Army  of  Public  Safety.  How  New  York  City's  Police  Force 
has  Grown.  The  Beginnings  of  the  Present  Police  System.  The 
Duties  of  the  Police  Commissioner.  The  Police  Inspectors.  The 
Captains.  The  Sergeants  and  Other  Officers.  The  Telephone 
and  Telegraph  Bureau.  Other  Bureaus.  Other  Features  of  the 
Department.  Summary. 

CHAPTER  XIV.   THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT 15? 

The  Earliest  Fire  Regulations.  Fire  Buckets  and  the  First  Fire 
Company.  Origin  of  the  Fire  Department.  The  Present  Fire 
Department.  Bureau  Chief  of  Department.  Station  Houses  and 
Fire  Apparatus.  Fire  Alarm  and  Telegraph.  Training  of 
men.  Bureau  of  Combustibles.  The  Bureau  of  Auxiliary 
Appliances  and  Violations.  The  Bureau  of  Fire  Marshals.  Relief 
Fund  and  Pensions.  Summary. 


X  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

CHAPTER   XV.   TRANSPORTATION    SYSTEMS   OF    NEW   YORK 

CITY JH^Jt    .     .     .     .  1 68 

Early  Methods  of  Transportation.  The  Beginning  of  Street 
Railways  in  the  City  of  New  York.  Street  Railway  Franchises. 
The  Elevated  Railway.  How  and  When  the  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
mission was  Appointed.  Powers  and  Duties  of  the  Commission. 
Manner  in  which  the  Railway  was  Built.  The  Waterproofing 
Process.  The  Roadbed,  Trains,  and  Street  Stations.  The  Brook- 
lyn Division.  Terms  of  the  Contract.  Some  of  the  Wonderful 
Features  of  the  Railway.  Summary. 

CHAPTER  XVI.    THE  PARK  DEPARTMENT  AND  THE  ART  COM- 
MISSION      187 

Older  Parks  of  the  Five  Boroughs  :  Bowling  Green,  Battery 
Park,  City  Hall  Park.  Madison  and  Other  City  Squares.  Early 
Brooklyn  Parks.  Park  Department.  Other  Parks  of  the  City: 
Central  Park,  Prospect  Park.  Parjcs  of  The  Bronx :  Pelham  Bay 
Park,  Van  Cortlandt  Park,  The  Bronx  Park.  Statuary  of  the  Parks. 
Art  Commission.  Its  Powers  and  Duties.  The  City  Improvement 
Commission.  Summary. 

CHAPTER  XVII.    THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  BRIDGES     ....  202 

The  Need  of  Bridges.  Origin  and  Organization  of  the  Depart- 
ment. Powers  of  the  Department.  System  of  Bridges.  Historic 
Bridges:  Kingsbridge,  Farmers'  Bridge,  Macomb's  Dam  Bridge, 
Third  Avenue  Bridge,  Williamsbridge.  Other  Harlem  River 
Bridges.  East  River  Bridges :  Brooklyn  Bridge,  Williamsburg 
Bridge,  Manhattan  Bridge,  Blackwell's  Island  Bridge.  Summary. 

CHAPTER  XVIII.  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  DOCKS  AND  FERRIES  213 

The  Water  Front  of  the  City  of  New  York.  Docks  and  Piers. 
Features  of  the  Harbor  of  New  York.  How  the  Docks  and 
Ferries  were  Established.  In  the  Days  of  the  Revolution  and 
After.  The  Department  of  Docks  and  Ferries.  Commissioner  of 
Docks.  The  Divisions  and  Officers  of  the  Department  of  Docks 
and  Ferries.  The  Length  of  the  Piers  and  Why.  Harbor  Fran- 
chises. Recreation  Piers.  Summary. 


CONTENTS  xi 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  XIX.   THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH 224 

How  the  Health  of  the  City  is  Maintained.  Origin  and  Organi- 
zation of  the  Department.  Duties  and  Powers.  The  Sanitary 
Code.  The  Sanitary  Bureau.  Division  of  Inspection.  Inspec- 
tion of  Foods.  Division  of  Contagious  Diseases.  Medical  School 
Inspectors.  School  Nurses.  Employment  Certificates.  Vaccina- 
tion. Hospitals.  Division  of  Laboratories.  Disinfection.  Bureau 
of  Records.  Summary. 

CHAPTER  XX.   THE  TENEMENT  HOUSE  DEPARTMENT  .     .     .237 

The  Necessity  of  the  Tenement  House  Department.  The 
Tenement  House  Commissioner.  Organization  of  the  Department 
into  Four  Bureaus :  The  Executive  Bureau,  The  New  Building 
Bureau,  The  Old  Building  Bureau,  or  Inspection  Bureau,  The 
Bureau  of  Records.  Summary. 

CHAPTER  XXI.   THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  PUBLIC  CHARITIES   .  246 

The  Dependent  Classes  of  New  York  City.  Early  Charity 
Organizations.  The  Establishment  of  Bellevue  Hospital.  The 
Department  of  Public  Charities.  Philanthropy  of  the  Department 
of  Public  Charities.  The  Institutions  under  the  Department.  The 
City  Hospital.  The  Tuberculosis  Infirmary  and  the  Homes  for 
the  Aged  and  Infirm.  Randall's  Island  Institutions.  The  Brooklyn 
and  Other  Borough  Institutions.  The  Cottage  Colony.  Summary. 

CHAPTER  XXII.   THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  CORRECTION  .     .     .  259 

Why  a  Department  of  Correction  is  Necessary  in  the  City  Gov- 
ernment. Departments  of  Correction.  New  York  City's  Depart- 
ment of  Correction.  The  Powers  and  Duties  of  the  Commissioner 
of  Correction.  The  Penitentiary  on  Blackwell's  Island.  Prison 
Regulations.  The  Reform  Schools.  Summary. 

CHAPTER  XXIII.   THE  LAW  DEPARTMENT 267 

Why  the  City  of  New  York  has  a  Law  Department.  What 
constitutes  the  Law  Department.  The  Corporation  Counsel. 
Bureau  of  Street  Openings.  Bureau  for  Recovery  of  Penalties. 
Bureau  for  Collection  of  Arrears  of  Personal  Taxes.  Tenemen|g^ 
House  and  Building  Bureau  Branch  Office.  Questions  whicri 
come  before  the  Department  because  the  City  is  a  Property  Owner. 
Suits  involving  the  Civil  Service.  Summary. 


xii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  XXIV.   THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  FINANCE    ....  279 

Public  Finances  during  Colonial  Period.  Appointment  of  a 
Comptroller.  Development  of  the  City's  Financial  System.  Why 
the  Department  of  Finance  is  Important.  The  Financial  Impor- 
tance of  the  City.  Institutions  which  make  the  City  Great :  The 
Stock  Exchange,  The  Consolidated  Exchange,  The  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  The  Produce  Exchange,  The  Maritime  Exchange, 
The  New  York  Clearing  House.  Department  of  Finance.  The 
Comptroller.  The  Sinking  Fund.  Bureaus  of  the  Finance  De- 
partment. The  Chamberlain.  Bureau  Divisions.  Summary. 

CHAPTER  XXV.   THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  TAXES  AND  ASSESS- 
MENTS .     .     . 297 

What  is  Taxation  ?  Why  we  are  Taxed.  Taxable  Property  of 
the  City.  Corporation  Property.  Early  Taxation.  The  Depart- 
ment of  Taxes  and  Assessments.  Duties  and  Powers.  Work 
of  Deputy  Commissioners.  Tax  Rolls.  Rate  of  Taxation.  Tax- 
payers' Privileges.  Payment  of  Taxes.  Summary. 

CHAPTER  XXVI.  THE  CIVIL  SERVICE   COMMISSION  of  THE 

CITY  OF  NEW  YORK      ."    .     .    .-••'•.- 309 

What  is  the  Civil  Service  Law  ?  The  Necessity  for  the  Civil 
Service  Law.  How  New  York  State  came  to  adopt  the  Civil  Serv- 
ice Law  and  the  Need  for  it  in  the  City.  New  York  City's  Civil 
Service  Commission.  The  City's  Civil  Service  Law.  The  Exam- 
iners. How  the  Examinations  are  Conducted.  Special  Examina- 
tions. How  Appointments  are  Made.  Summary. 

CHAPTER  XXVII.    THE  CITY  JUDICIARY 320 

The  Sources  of  the  Law.  Kinds  of  Law  :  Criminal  Law,  Civil 
Law.  Judicial  Procedure.  The  District  Attorney.  The  Jury 
System  of  Courts.  Civil  Courts  under  the  Charter:  City  Court, 
Municipal  Court.  Criminal  Courts  under  the  Charter:  Court 
of  Special  Sessions,  Children's  Court,  Magistrates'  Courts. 
fPtmmary. 

INDEX  .     •     ...     •     -339 


ERRATA 

Pages  v  and  293.  For  James  A.  Canfield  read  James 
H.  Canfield. 

Certain  changes  having  been  made  by  the  Board  of  Education 
in  the  numbers  borne  by  some  of  the  New  York  public  schools,  the 
following  corrections  are  noted  : 

Page  67  (under  the  illustration),  for  No.  63  read  4. 
Page  97  (under  the  illustration),  for  No.  153  read  26. 
Page  100  (under  the  illustration),  for  No.  175  read  33. 
Page  103  (under  the  illustration),  for  No.  106  read  21. 

Baker:  Municipal  Government. 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT   OF 
THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


™W 

UNIVERSITY 


FIG.  i.    Henry  Hudson 


CHAPTER   I 

THE  ISLAND  THAT  SOLD  FOR  TWENTY-FOUR  DOLLARS 

The  Coming  of  Henry  Hudson.  One  September  day  almost 
three  hundred  years  ago  a  Dutch  sailing  vessel  bearing  the 
name  The  Half  Moon 
slowly  rounded  the 
point  of  land  now 
called  Sandy  Hook. 
It  plowed  its  way 
through  the  waters 
of  New  York  Bay 
and  dropped  anchor 
on  the  shores  of  an 
unknown  land,  —  "a 
countrie  full  of  great 
and  tall  oakes  and 
peopled  with  strange- 
looking  red  men, ' '  as 
the  discoverers  de- 
scribed it.  The  ves- 
sel, a  small  craft  of 
eighty  tons,  manned 


by  twenty  Dutch  and 
English  sailors,  was 
in  command  of  the 


! 


FIG.  2.    A  Dutch  Sailing  Vessel  bearing  the 
Name  The  Half  Moon 


English  explorer,  Henry  Hudson,  who,  in  the  employ  of  the 
government  of  Holland,  was  searching  for  a  northwestern 

3 


4   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

water  way  to  the  Far  East,  —  a  fancied  water  route  which 
was  one  of  the  delusive  dreams  of  early  navigators.  When 
Hudson  and  his  men  saw  the  great  river,  the  River  of  the 
Mountains,  as  he  called  it,  but  which  now  bears  the  dis- 
coverer's name,  they  were  filled  with  joy.  They  believed 
that  at  last  the  object  of  the  long  search  'was  attained,  that 
they  had  found  "the  North  Sea,"  which  was  then  said  to 
"lie  back  of  Virginia  "  and  to  open  into  a  water  route  lead- 
ing to  India.  A  number  of  the  sailors  manned  a  smaller 
boat  and  sailed  up  the  stream ;  but  as  day  by  day  the  waters 
grew  more  shallow,  they  were  at  last  compelled  to  give  up 
the  fond  hope.  Reluctantly  they  returned  to  The  Half  Moon, 
and  in  keen  disappointment  Hudson  made  his  way  back  to 
the  Old  World. 

The  Dutch  Settlement  in  America.  Although  Hudson 
and  his  men  had  failed  to  find  a  water  route  to  India,  they 
had,  without  knowing  it,  made  a  far  greater  discovery.  To 
them  belongs  the  honor  of  laying  the  foundation,  —  in  dis- 
covering the  land,  —  upon  which  was  built  not  only  the 
Empire  State  of  our  Union  but  also  the  greatest  city  of 
the  western  world.  Soon  after  the  report  of  Hudson's  dis- 
coveries had  been  published,  a  mercantile  company  called 
The  United  New  Netherland  Company  was  formed  in  Hol- 
land to  open  up  a  fur  trade  with  the  Indians.  These  furs 
were  eagerly  sought  in  the  European  markets,  and  to  obtain 
them  the  company  established  two  trading  forts,  —  one,  sub- 
sequently called  Fort  Amsterdam,  at  the  southern  end  of 
Manhattan  Island,  and  the  other,  known  as  Fort  Orange, 
farther  up  the  river  near  the  present  site  of  Albany.  In  a  few 
years  the  New  Netherland  Company  was  succeeded  by  the 
Great  West  India  Company.  To  the  latter  the  states-general, 


THE   ISLAND 


5 


the  governing  body  of  Holland,  granted  a  charter  covering 
all  lands  beyond  the  sea  discovered  by  Hudson. 

The  First  Direcktors-General ;  the  Purchase  of  the 
Island.  For  forty-three  years  the  Great  West  India  Com- 
pany controlled  the  Dutch  possessions  in  America.  It 
exercised  its  authority  through  six  "direcktors,"  or  govern- 
ors, who  were  appointed  by  the  company  at  Amsterdam. 


FIG.  3.    Peter  Minuit  buying  the  Island  from  the  Indians 

The  first  two  of  these  remained  in  the  colony  but  a  year 
each,  and  did  little  towards  establishing  a  permanent  settle- 
ment. Peter  Minuit,  the  first  real  direcktor-general,  arrived 
at  Manhattan  Island  in  May,  1626,  bringing  with  him  a 
shipload  of  colonists.  He  commenced  at  once  to  enlarge 
the  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson  River,  but  before 
doing  so,  with  a  sense  of  honor  not  always  practiced  by  his 
successors  in  their  dealings  with  the  natives,  he  called 


6        GOVERNMENT  OF   THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 

together  the  Indian  tribe  living  in  the  neighborhood  and 
purchased  from  them  the  island.  It  contained  about  twenty- 
two  thousand  acres,  and  in  payment  Minuit  gave  the 
Indians  bright  red  cloth,  small  looking-glasses,  and  trinkets 
of  various  kinds,  to  the  value  of  twenty-four  dollars  in  our 
money,  —  a  bargain,  astonishing  as  it  may  seem  to  us 
to-day,  which  was  perfectly  satisfactory  to  both  parties.  In 
his  Memorial  History  of  New  York  Mr.  Wilson  says  that 
although  the  Indians  of  this  tribe  were  fierce  and  warlike, 
they  seemed  to  have  had  a  certain  appreciation  of  sentiment, 
for  they  called  the  island  Manhattan,  from  the  combina- 
tion of  the  Indian  words  ma,  meaning  Great  Spirit,  na, 
excellent,  and  at  a,  beautiful  land.  He  adds  that  this  —  not 
the  appellation  of  the  tribe  itself  —  was  the  source  from 
which  the  island  derived  its  name. 

For  his  residence  Direcktor  Minuit  erected  a  blockhouse 
within  the  fort.  Around  it  the  colonists  built  their  smaller 
dwellings,  close  together  for  protection  both  against  the 
Indians  and  the  wild  beasts  of  the  forest.  Not  much  effort 
was  made  to  enlarge  the  colony  until  a  few  years  later,  when 
the  patroon  privilege  was  inaugurated.  This  was  a  grant 
called  the  Privileges  and  Exemption  Charter  issued  by  the 
West  India  Company,  by  which  any  member  of  the  com- 
pany who  brought  fifty  grown-up  people  into  the  colony 
and  settled  them  in  homes  in  any  part  of  the  province,  aside 
from  southern  Manhattan,  was  given  a  large  tract  of  land 
with  the  right  to  engage  in  all  trades,  except  that  of  buy- 
ing furs  from  the  Indians.  The  company  reserved  the  fur 
trade  and  the  southern  part  of  the  island  for  itself,  a  self- 
ish policy  which  afterwards  made  a  great  deal  of  trouble. 
The  Privileges  and  Exemption  Charter  was  the  means  of 


THE    ISLAND 


founding  a  number  of  immense  estates  throughout  the 
province,  and  of  bringing  in  thousands  of  people.  The  men 
who  established  these  settlements  were  called  patroons,  and 
had  full  control  of  all  who  lived  on  their  lands.  During 
this  period  the  government  of  the  province  was  very  simple. 
The  trading  company  in  Holland,  with  the  approval  of  the 
states-general,  appointed  a  council  of  five  men  as  Direck- 
tor  Minuit's  advisers  ;  but  in  most  matters  his  word  was 
the  law  of  the  little  community.  The  council  included  a 
schout-fiscal,  who  was  the  secretary  of  the  company,  and 
a  koopman,  its  bookkeeper. 

Other  Dutch  Direcktors-General.  In  1633  Wouter  Van 
Twiller,  a  clerk  in  the  warehouse  of  the  West  India  Com- 
pany at  Amsterdam,  who 
had  married  the  niece  of 
the  wealthy  patroon,  Van 
Rensselaer,was  appointed 
to  succeed  Governor 
Minuit.  He  came  to  New 
Amsterdam  with  a  small 
fleet  of  ships  bearing, 
besides  one  hundred  and 
four  soldiers,  several  fam- 
ilies, and  many  useful 
things,  such  as  tools  and 
implements,  to  build  up 
the  colony.  Among  those 
who  came  with  him  were 
the  minister,  Dominie  Everardus  Bogardus,  who  afterwards 
became  such  a  prominent  figure  in  the  province,  and  Adam 
Roelantsen,  the  first  schoolmaster.  Direcktor  Van  Twiller 


FIG.  4.    Direcktor  Van  Twiller  and  his 
Friends 


8    GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

was  inclined  to  take  life  easy  and  rather  let  affairs  in  the 
colony  drift,  and  Diedrich  Knickerbocker,  in  one  of  his  hu- 
morous tales,  describes  him  as  so  fat  and  with  so  short  a  neck 
that  "  when  he  was  erect  he  had  the  appearance  of  a  beer 
barrel  on  skids."  He  was  active  and  shrewd  enough,  how- 
ever, to  make  a  fortune  for  himself,  and  it  is  recorded  to  his 
credit  that  at  one  time  he  drove  out  a  company  of  Englishmen 
who  attempted  to  establish  a  trading  post  on  Dutch  territory. 

During  his  administration  he  made  a  number  of  substan- 
tial improvements  in  the  settlement.  He  enlarged  the  fort 
and  erected  the  first  church  building.  The  latter  stood 
near  the  present  foot  of  Broadway  on  the  oldest  thorough- 
fare in  the  city,  Pearl  Street,  then  called  "The  Road  to 
the  Ferry."  Before  that  time  public  worship  had  been  held 
in  the  upper  part  of  a  grist  mill  standing  below  the  fort. 
The  new  church  was  dignified  with  a  tower  and  a  chime 
of  bells  which  had  been  captured  from  a  Spanish  vessel. 
Some  of  the  colonists  built  substantial  dwelling  houses  of 
yellow  brick,  a  color  and  material  very  popular  during  the 
Dutch  colonial  period.  In  1637  Van  Twiller  bought  an 
island  in  New  York  Bay,  where  he  built  his  summer  home 
and  laid  out  a  large  plantation.  The  Indian  name  for  this 
island  was  Pagganck,  but  from  the  quantity  of  chestnut 
and  walnut  trees  growing  upon  it,  the  Dutch  termed  it 
Nutten  Island.  Many  years  later  the  English  government 
set  this  land  apart  for  the  benefit  of  "  His  Majesty's  gov- 
ernors and  councilors,"  since  which  time  it  has  been  known 
as  Governors  Island.  At  the  end  of  five  years  Van  Twiller 
was  recalled  to  Holland. 

He  was  followed  by  Direcktor  Kieft,  a  tyrannical  gov- 
ernor who  soon  succeeded  in  making  himself  very  unpopular. 


THE   ISLAND  9 

Shortly  after  his  arrival  he  reduced  the  council  to  two 
persons,  himself  and  one  other,  and  in  order  to  make  sure 
that  his  word  should  be  law,  he  retained  two  votes  in  the 
council  and  allowed  his  colleague  only  one  !  After  thus 
assuming  complete  control  of  the  government  his  tyranny 
was  unlimited.  Finally,  by  a  cruel  act  of  his  own,  a  fierce 
and  bloody  Indian  war  was  brought  on,  which  compelled 
him  to  call  together  the  old  council,  as  well  as  the  patroons, 
for  advice.  But  as  soon  as  the  war  was  over  he  dismissed 
them  and  resumed  his  arbitrary  methods.  At  last  he  made 
so  much  trouble  that  the  colonists  could  endure  it  no  longer. 
They  wrote  a  letter  to  the  states-general  and  sent  three  of 
their  number  with  it  to  Holland,  where  they  presented  their 
cause  so  successfully  that,  in  1646,  Kieft  was  recalled. 
Notwithstanding  all  these  troubles,  while  Kieft  was  the 
direcktor-general  some  notable  improvements  were  made. 
A  stone  tavern,  long  known  as  "The  Dutch  House  of 
Entertainment,"  was  erected  at  the  foot  of  Pearl  Street. 
It  was  afterwards  used  as  the  Stadt  Huys,  the  Dutch  name 
for  the  city  hall.  A  stone  church  building,  the  first  belong- 
ing to  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  in  America,  was  erected 
in  the  fort  by  Kieft. 

Direcktor-General  Peter  Stuyvesant.  The  last  of  these 
Dutch  Direcktors  was  Peter  Stuyvesant,  a  sturdy  old  soldier 
who  had  lost  one  of  his  legs  in  battle  in  the  West  Indies. 
He  was  by  far  the  best  of  the  early  governors  and  has  some- 
times been  called  "The  Father  of  New  York  City,"  yet 
even  he  gave  the  people  but  little  self-government.  He 
held  his  commission  from  the  West  India  Company  and 
conscientiously  felt  that  it  was  his  duty  to  promote  the  in- 
terests of  the  company  rather  than  those  of  the  colonists. 


10      GOVERNMENT   OF  THE  CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 


While  this  is  true,  history  has  shown  the  wisdom  of  many 
of  the  acts  of  his  administration.  When  Sweden  sent  a 
colony  into  some  of  the  territory  claimed  by  the  Dutch,  — 
that  which  is  now  a  part  of  the  state  of  Delaware,  —  Direck- 
tor  Stuyvesant  went  down  and  compelled  the  colonists  to 

become  subject  to  Hol- 
land. Although  his  gov- 
ernment was  strict,  often 
severely  so,  the  colony 
grew  and  flourished 
under  him. 

The  little  settlement 
then  contained  about 
fifteen  hundred  people, 
with  three  hundred 
houses.  In  honor  of  the 
capital  city  of  their  home 
land,  Stuyvesant  is  said 
to  have  named  the  settle- 
ment New  Amsterdam. 
It  had  become  the  lead- 
ing hamlet  of  the  prov- 

FIG.  5.    Direcktor  Peter  Stuyvesant,  who       mce)  ancl  the  inhabitants 
has    sometimes    been    called    "The  j      j  d  f       inde_ 

Father  of  New  York  City "  &       ' 

pendence  from  the  West 

India  Company,  and  for  municipal  privileges.  To  attain  them 
they  sent  three  of  their  number  to  Amsterdam  to  intercede 
with  the  states-general.  After  a  long  and  hard  struggle  they 
secured  a  city  charter  for  New  Amsterdam  and  village 
rights  for  its  outlying  settlements.  The  charter  was  some- 
what similar  in  form  to  the  one  in  use  in  the  mother  city ; 


THE    ISLAND 


1 1 


it  provided  for  two  burgomasters  and  five  schepens,  who 
were  to  be  elected  by  the  freeholders,  that  is,  those  who 
owned  certain  landed  property.  Amidst  much  rejoicing, 
on  the  2d  of  February,  1633,  New  Amsterdam  was  pro- 
claimed a  city ;  but  as  the  direcktor  refused  to  allow  the 


FIG.  6.    Governor  Stuyvesant's  Town  House,  Whitehall 
This  afterwards  gave  the  name  to  the  street  on  which  it  stood 

election,  and  appointed  the  officials  himself,  the  colony  was 
not  much  better  off  than  it  was  before  it  had  the  charter. 
The  quarrels  between  the  little  city  and  the  autocratic 
governor  grew  more  and  more  severe  each  year. 

Improvements  made  during  Direcktor  Stuyvesant's  Ad- 
ministration. The  seal  of  the  city  was  adopted  in  1654,  and, 
arbitrary  as  Stuyvesant  was,  many  improvements  were  made 
in  New  Amsterdam  after  the  charter  was  obtained.  The 
better  class  of  burghers,  as  the  citizens  were  called,  built 
large  and  comfortable  dwellings,  the  governor  himself  setting 


12      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 


them  an  example  by  erecting  a  handsome  town  house,  which 
he  named  Whitehall,  and  which  afterward  gave  the  name 
to  the  street  whereon  it  stood.  The  first  large  wharf,  a 
crescent-shaped  anchorage  at  the  foot  of  the  present  Moore 

Street,  was  constructed 
during  this  time.  Satur- 
day was  proclaimed  gen- 
eral market  day,  and  a 
market  was  established 
"near  Hans  Kierstedl's 
house,"  now  the  north- 
east corner  of  Pearl  and 
Whitehall  streets.  One 
of  the  principal  thorough- 
fares of  that  day  was 
known  as  De  Brouwer, 
because  there  were  three 
breweries  standing  on  it ; 
but  as  it  was  the  first 
street  of  the  town  to  be 
paved  with  stone,  it  was 
given  the  name  which  it 
has  ever  since  borne,— 

FIG.  7.    Coenties  Slip  in  the  Dutch  Times      5tone  Street      We   will 

learn  later  how  it  came  to  be  paved.  There  was  a  clear  little 
stream  running  through  one  part  of  the  settlement  where 
the  maidens  used  to  go  to  do  the  family  washings,  and  this 
gave  the  name  to  Maiden  Lane. 

Because  Direcktor  Stuyvesant  was  afraid  that  the  English 
were  coming  to  attack  the  colony,  in  1653,  he  built  a  strong 
wooden  wall,  twelve  feet  high,  entirely  across  the  island,  and 


THE    ISLAND  13 

that  gave  the  name  to  Wall  Street.  Aside  from  his  town 
mansion  the  governor  owned  a  large  farm,  or  "bouwery," 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  present  Third  Avenue  and 
Twelfth  Street.  The  road  leading  to  it  was  known  as 
Bouwery  Lane,  later  changed  by  the  English  into  The 
Bowery.  Not  far  from  this  residence  in  the  "bouwery" 
the  governor's  widow  built  St.  Mark's  Chapel,  where  St. 
Mark's  in  the  Bowery,  Second  Avenue  and  Tenth  Street, 


FIG.  8.    The  Old  Stadt  Huys 

now  stands.  In  a  corner  of  this  church,  beneath  the  tablet 
erected  to  his  memory,  is  the  tomb  of  this  erratic  but  best 
remembered  Dutch  direcktor. 

The  English  Invasion.  The  English  always  disputed  the 
right  of  the  Dutch  to  New  Netherland.  During  all  the 
years  that  Holland  held  these  possessions  England  watched 
them  with  jealous  eyes  and  tried  many  times  to  obtain 
them.  There  was  constant  friction  between  the  two  mother 
countries,  and  finally,  in  1664,  basing  his  claim  to  the 
province  on  Cabot's  discoveries  of  1497,  —  regardless  of 
Holland's  rights  of  colonization,  —  Charles  II  of  England 
granted  to  his  brother  James,  then  Duke  of  York,  the 


14      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 


whole  of  New  Netherland.  The  duke  sent  Colonel  Richard 
Nicolls  with  three  ships  and  a  thousand  men  to  take  the 
coveted  possessions.  One  summer  day,  with  his  ships  and 
men,  Nicolls  sailed  into  the  harbor  of  New  Amsterdam. 
He  dispatched  a  letter  to  Governor  Stuyvesant  demanding 
the  surrender  of  the  fort,  and  with  it  he  presented  the 
terms  of  peace.  The  doughty  governor  was  filled  with  rage 

and,  although  his  little  garrison 
contained  but  twenty  guns  and 
two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  did 
his  utmost  to  rouse  the  colony 
to  resistance ;  but  it  was  useless. 
The  terms  of  surrender  were 
generous.  Moreover  the  colo- 
nists had  long  seen  that  England 

^ave  ^er  sukjects  m  tne  New 
World  more  liberties  than  they 
themselves  enjoyed,  and,  having 
grown  weary  of  the  tyranny  of 
the  West  India  Company  and  its 
despotic  governors,  they  refused 
to  listen  to  Direcktor  Stuyve- 
sant 's  entreaties.  Although  with 
tears  streaming  down  his  face  he 
told  them  that  he  would  rather 
be  carried  to  his  grave,  they  compelled  him  to  accept  the 
terms  of  peace  and  to  surrender  the  fort.  Thus  the  Dutch 
gave  up  their  greatest  colonial  possessions  and  England 
annexed  them  to  the  territory  she  already  controlled. 

The  Change  in  the  Name  of  the  Colony.    One  of  Gov- 
ernor Nicolls'  first  acts  was  to  change  the  name  of  New 


FIG.  9.  Direcktor  Stuyvesant 
surrendering  the  Fort  to  the 
English 


THE    ISLAND  15 

Amsterdam  to  New  York,  and  to  christen  the  fort  James, 
in  honor  of  the  duke.  He  also  made  English  the  official 
language  of  the  colony.  He  was  kind  and  courteous  and 
tried  to  make  the  Dutch  feel  the  change  of  government  as 
little  as  possible ;  but  in  the  course  of  a  year  he  proclaimed 
the  Duke's  Laws,  which,  while  containing  certain  civil  rights, 
took  away  the  suffrage  of  the  freeholders.  The  Dutch 
charter  continued  in  force,  but  five  aldermen  replaced  the 
burgomasters  ;  Thomas  Willett  was  appointed  mayor,  and 
the  sellout-fiscal  was  reappointed  with  the  title  of  sheriff. 

The  City  under  the  English.  From  this  time  (with  the 
exception  of  about  fifteen  months  in  1673-1674,  when  New 
York  was  recaptured  by  the  Dutch)  until  the  end  of  the 
Revolution  the  English  held  New  Netherland.  During 
these  years  the  province  was  successively  under  the  author- 
ity of  twenty  different  governors  appointed  by  the  British 
crown,  and  had  sometimes  more,  and  sometimes  less,  local 
suffrage.  Yet  despite  this  tyranny  the  growth  of  New 
York  was  continuous.  In  1670  her  merchants  commenced 
holding  weekly  meetings,  which  were  the  beginning  of  the 
New  York  Exchange.  In  1672  the  mail  route  was  estab- 
lished between  New  York  and  Boston.  On  the  first  Monday 
of  every  month  "a  sworn  messenger  was  dispatched  to 
convey  letters  between  the  two  cities";  and  on  his  initial 
journey  he  carried  an  ax  with  him  to  blaze  the  trees  in 
order  to  know  the  way  on  his  return.  Each  trip  consumed 
two  weeks. 

In  1675  a  basin  for  small  crafts,  called  the  Greta  Dock, 
was  built  in  the  east  harbor,  for  even  then  the  ocean  and  the 
river  trade  indicated  what  they  would  become  eventually. 
All  commerce  was  on  the  increase,  and  many  enterprises 


16      GOVERNMENT   OF  THE  CITY   OF  NEW  YORK 


which  now  make  the  city  great  sprang  into  existence.  In 
1725  Bradford's  Gazette  commenced  publication,  the  fore- 
runner of  all  the  present  dailies  and  weeklies.  The  first 

monthly  was  started  by 
Noah  Webster  in  1788. 
The  first  public  library 
building  was  opened  in 
1754,  although  a  circu- 
lating library  had  been 
in  existence  for  half  a 
century.  In  that  same 
year  the  Nestor  of  the 
higher  institutions  of 
learning  of  New  York 
State,  King's  College, 
now  Columbia  Univer- 
sity, was  started  on  the 
outskirts  of  the  city, 
that  section  of  down 
town  which  is  Murray, 
Barclay,  and  Church 
streets.  By  the  middle 
of  the  century  lawyers 
and  men  of  other  pro- 
fessions were  becom- 
ing numerous. 

The  Era  of  the  Revolution  and  Subsequent  Growth  of 
the  City.  During  all  these  years  the  government  of  the 
city,  as  well  as  that  of  the  province,  remained  a  vexed 
question  causing  continual  trouble.  In  fact,  there  was 
such  conflict  between  all  the  colonies  and  their  English 


FIG.  10.   Oldest  House  on  Manhattan 
Island,  19  Pearl  Street 


THE    ISLAND 


governors   that  a  coalition  of  the  assemblies  was   finally 
brought  about,  out  of  which  grew  the  Continental  Congress, 
and  from  which,  as  a  necessary  sequel,  resulted  the  Revolu- 
tion.   In  the  sad  days  of  that  awful  conflict  commerce  suf- 
fered in  all  parts  of  the  new  country,  but  nowhere  more  than 
in  New  York  City,  for  it  was  under 
British  dominion  almost  the  entire 
time,  and  was  the  scene  of   many 
battles.     With  the  independence  of 
the  states,  however,  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  republic  the  city  com- 
menced a  growth  which  has  continued 
ever  since.     In  1785 
the  first  American  post 
office  in  the  city  was 
opened  on   Smith 
Street ;  the  next  year 
the  first  bank,  The 
Bank  of  New  York,  was 
founded;  and  in  the 
year  following  the  first 
medical  society.    Early 
in  the  twenties  ocean 
traffic  began  to  wield  its 
power.   The  first  vessel 
propelled  by  steam  to 

.cross  the  Atlantic  was  the  Savannah.  She  sailed  from  New 
York  to  Liverpool  in  1819,  and  her  steam  engine  created 
intense  wonderment.  In  1839  the  Cunard  Line  began 
operations,  and  in  1855  the  line  between  New  York  and 
Havre  was  opened.  As  early  as  1811  Gouverneur  Morris 


FIG.  n.  Erecting  First  Tel- 
egraph Lines  in  1846 


l8      GOVERNMENT   OF  THE  CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 

projected  the  Erie  Canal,  but  it  was  not  begun  for  a  number 
of  years,  nor  completed  until  1825.  It  gave  an  impetus  to 
trade  of  all  kinds.  The  first  railroad,  used  originally  as  a 
horse-car  line,  was  extended  from  Harlem  to  the  lower  part 
of  the  city,  in  1831.  In  1846  the  first  telegraph  lines  were 
erected.  Since  the  introduction  of  railroads  and  telegraph 
the  growth  of  the  city  has  been  surprisingly  rapid. 

Summary.  New  York  was  discovered  by  Henry  Hudson  and 
first  settled  by  the  Dutch.  Two  trading  companies,  the  New  Nether- 
land  and  afterwards  the  West  India,  established  trading  forts  with 
the  Indians  in  order  to  secure  the  furs  of  the  country.  Around  the 
two  forts  small  settlements  were  made.  The  government  of  the  col- 
ony was  invested  with  the  trading  company,  which  received  a  charter 
from  the  states-general  of  Holland.  Peter  Minuit,  the  third  direcktor, 
bought  the  island  from  the  Indians  for  twenty-four  dollars.  He  was 
succeeded  by  three  other  direcktors,  the  last  and  best  of  whom  was 
Peter  Stuyvesant.  A  city  charter  for  New  Amsterdam  and  village 
rights  for  the  outlying  districts  were  obtained  in  1653.  Charles  II 
of  England,  basing  his  claim  to  the  country  upon  the  discoveries 
of  Cabot,  granted  the  New  Netherland  to  his  brother  James,  Duke  of 
York,  who  sent  Colonel  Richard  Nicolls  to  take  it  from  the  Dutch  in 
1664.  Successfully  accomplishing  this,  Nicolls  changed  the  name  of 
New  Amsterdam  to  New  York.  Under  the  English  the  colony  flour- 
ished and  commerce  developed.  Its  growth  since  the  Revolution 
has  been  continuous,  until  now  it  is  the  second  city  in  size  and 
commercial  importance  in  the  world. 


FIG.  12.   The  Seal  of  the  United  States 


CHAPTER   II 

THE   CHARTER   HISTORY   OF   THE   CITY  OF   NEW   YORK 

The  Development  of  the  City.  Long,  long  ago,  in  the 
days  when  the  world  was  still  quite  young,  there  were  no 
towns  and  cities  such  as  we  now  know.  People  dwelt  in 
tribes  and  wandered  from  place  to  place  to  find  pasturage 
for  their  stock.  When  they  remained  at  a  place  for  any 
length  of  time  they  built  walled  inclosures  around  their  set- 
tlements. Towns  finally  grew  from  these  walled  inclosures 
of  the  primitive  tribes,  and  cities  followed  as  the  result  of 

19 


20      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 

trade  and  commerce.  The  Church  of  England  first  defined 
the  term  "city  "  by  applying  it  to  any  borough  which  was 
the  seat  of  an  Episcopal  see. 

In  America,  towns  were  organized  even  before  the  col- 
onies themselves  adopted  a  form  of  government.  The 
colony  of  New  Netherland  was  established  on  the  island 
of  Manhattan  by  the  Dutch  West  India  Company  for  the 
purpose  of  trade.  When  the  English  took  possession  of 
the  island  they  inaugurated  the  Duke's  Laws,  which  pro- 
vided for  the  formation  of  towns  and  counties  similar  to 
those  existing  in  England.  Each  town  elected  its  represent- 
ative to  the  general  assembly  of  the  colony.  The  assembly 
elected  the  sheriff  and  several  other  officers  who  determined 
the  taxation  of  the  county.  These  towns  were  established 
for  the  purpose  of  trade  and  commerce,  and,  like  all  their 
successors  since,  were  municipal  corporations. 

A  municipal  corporation,  that  is,  a  city,  according  to  the 
federal  statutes,  is  "a  subordinate  branch  of  the  govern- 
mental power  of  the  state  in  which  it  is  located."  This 
simply  means  that  the  city  is  a  part  of  the  state  to  which 
it  belongs,  and  is  under  the  control  of  state  government. 
While  this  is  true,  it  is  undoubtedly  better  that  the  state  legis- 
lature should  interfere  as  little  as  practicable  in  city  govern- 
ment ;  for  the  best  governed  cities  are  those  which  are  most 
responsible  for  their  own  administration.  Nor  should  we 
ever  forget  that  a  city  is  a  municipal  corporation,  —  that  is, 
a  civic  organization  primarily  for  business  purposes.  The 
mayor  and  all  other  city  officials  are  elected  for  the  exclu- 
sive purpose  of  carrying  on  the  business  of  the  city.  For 
this  reason  party  politics  should  never  dominate  a  city  elec- 
tion. Not  the  political  party  to  which  a  candidate  belongs, 


THE  CHARTER  HISTORY  OF  THE  CITY 


21 


but  the  fitness  of  the  candidate  for  the  position,  should  be 
the  principle  governing  an  elector  in  his  vote.  Only  the 
most  capable,  honest,  and  upright  men  should  be  chosen 
for  public  offices  in  the  municipal  government. 

The  Charter  of  a  City.  In  the  state  of  New  York  a  city 
is  a  district  which  is  subject  to  a  municipal  government 
organized  under  an  act  of  the  state  legislature.  This  act  of 
the  state  legislature,  known  as  the  act  of  incorporation,  is 
called  a  city  charter.  The 
charter  usually  gives  the 
name  the  city  is  to  bear, 
states  how  much  terri- 
tory it  is  to  occupy,  de- 
fines all  its  rights  and 
privileges,  and  confers 
upon  it  many  business 
obligations,  and  in  some 
degree  authorizes  it  to 
manage  its  own  govern- 
ment. Most  of  the  func- 
tions thus  conferred  upon 
the  city  by  the  state 
legislature,  however,  are  purely  business  functions,  and  only 
a  small  proportion  of  them  are  governmental.  The  state 
legislature  may  amend  the  charter  at  any  time. 

The  Dutch  Charters.  New  York  was  among  the  first  of 
the  cities  in  North  America  to  Have  a  charter,  and,  in 
truth,  there  was  a  charter  a  good  while  before  there  was 
any  city  or  state  of  New  York,  under  those  names.  Soon 
after  Henry  Hudson  returned  to  Holland  the  New  Neth- 
erland  Company  was  formed  to  trade  with  the  Indians 


FIG.  13.    Seal  of  New  Netherland,  1623 


22       GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF    NEW  YORK 

of  Manhattan,  and  the  first  charter,  that  is,  the  rules  which 
were  to  govern  trade  and  the  management  of  the  colony, 
was  given  to  this  company  by  the  states-general  of  Holland. 
In  granting  the  charter  the  states-general  designated  as 
"  New  Netherland  "  the  territory  in  which  the  company 
was  to  trade,  thus  giving  a  name  which  subsequently  was 
applied  to  all  the  Dutch  possessions  in  America. 

The  Great  West  India  Company  soon  succeeded  the  former 
one,  and,  in  1621,  the  government  of  Holland  sent  to  the 
Manhattan  colony  a  much  more  clearly  defined  charter,  some 
portions  of  which  remained  in  effect  until  the  English  took 
the  province  in  1664.  Under  each  of  the  direcktors  certain 
privileges  were  obtained  by  the  people.  However,  not  much 
semblance  of  self-government  was  secured  until,  during  Peter 
Stuyvesant's  administration,  New  Amsterdam  was  made  a 
city  and  the  outlying  hamlets  gained  village  rights.  The 
burgher  government  thus  established  consisted  of  a  council 
of  nine  men  who  were  to  hold  office  three  years.  It  was  to 
"decide  cases  between  man  and  man,"  and  to  regulate  the 
rate  and  collection  of  taxes.  At  first  Governor  Stuyvesant 
himself  appointed  this  body  of  men  and  defined  their  duties, 
but  eight  of  the  villages  of  the  province  protested  and  ap- 
pealed to  the  states-general.  They  gained  their  contest  and 
shortly  afterwards  held  an  election  for  the  members  of  the 
assembly.  In  1660  the  freeholders  —  colonists  who  owned 
a  certain  amount  of  land  —  also  elected  the  schout,  an  official 
who  at  that  time  combined  the  duties  of  prosecuting  attorney, 
judge,  and  sheriff.  This  form  of  government  still  existed 
when  the  English  came  into  power  in  1664. 

The  English  Charters.  As  will  be  remembered,  when 
the  English  took  possession  of  New  Netherland,  King 


THE  CHARTER  HISTORY   OF  THE  CITY 


Charles  gave  the  province  to  his  brother  James,  the  Duke 

of  York,  and  a  few  months  later  the  governor  whom  he 

had  appointed  put  into  operation    the  regulations  for  the 

colony    known    as    the    Governor    Nicolls   Charter.     This 

charter  established  four  principles  which  are  still  a  part  of 

the  fundamental  law  of  New 

York  State.     They  are  (i) 

equal   taxation,   (2)  trial  by 

jury,  (3)  obligatory  military 

duty,  (4)  freedom  of  religious 

worship. 

But  the  one  of  these  early 
agreements  which  is  best  re- 
membered is  that  known  by 
the  name  of  the  second  Eng- 
lish governor,  the  Dongan 
Charter.    Governor  Dongan 
was  more  broad-minded  than 
most  of  the  men  of  his  day. 
Soon  after  reaching  the  col- 
ony he  called  for  a  general 
assembly  of  the  province,  to 
be  composed  of  seventeen      FlG-  J4-  First  English  Seal  of  the 
members  elected  by  the  free- 
holders.    It  met  in  the  old  fort  at  New  York  in  October, 
1683,  and  prepared  the  famous  charter  which  began  with 
the  declaration,  "  That  the  supreme  legislative  power  shall 
forever  reside  in  the  governor,  council,  and  the  people  met 
in  general  assembly ;  and  that  every  freeholder  and  free 
man    shall  vote   without   restraint."     Not   long  afterward 
the  Duke  of  York  became  King  of  England,  and  as  king 


24      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 


he  was  unwilling  to  give  the  colonists  as  much  liberty  as 
this  charter  carried.  He  therefore  held  it  for  two  years 
without  signing,  but  under  the  next  reign,  that  of  William 
and  Mary,  it  was  ratified  and  remained  the  basis  of  the 

government  of  the  colony 
until  after  the  War  of  the 
Revolution.  But  its 
power  was  greatly  ham- 
pered by  the  governor's 
council,  a  body  appointed 
by  the  crown  and  claim- 
ing the  right  to  overrule 
the  acts  of  the  assembly. 
In  1730  it  was  revised 
under  Governor  Mont- 
gomerie  and  took  his 
name.  The  Montgomerie 
Charter,  in  addition  to 
defining  the  duties  of  the 

FIG.  15.    City  Seal"  of  1686  ...-,,      i 

assembly,  divided  the 

city  into  six  wards  and  provided  that  from  each  an  alder- 
man be  elected.  The  troubles  of  the  New  York  assembly 
were  repeated  in  all  of  the  colonies  and  finally  resulted 
in  the  call  of  the  Continental  Congress  in  1764  and  the 
national  revolt  in  1776. 

The  Adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  New 
York.  Early  in  the  Revolution,  New  York  City  was  taken 
by  the  English  and  remained  under  their  rule  until  the 
war  was  over.  When  the  colonies  were  finally  victorious 
the  Continental  Congress  advised  each  state  to  form  a 
permanent  government  by  adopting  its  own  constitution. 


THE   CHARTER  HISTORY  OF  THE   CITY 


There  is  this  difference  between  a  constitution  and  a  char- 
ter :  A  charter  is  granted  by  a  sovereign,  or  a  higher  power, 
while  a  constitution  is  established  by  the  people  themselves. 
All  of  the  states  except  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut 
adopted  written  constitutions  based  largely  on  the  charters 
which  had  preceded  them,  the  governors  of  the  states  ex- 
ercising the  power  which  previously  had  been  vested  in  the 
governors  appointed  by  the  crown.  Under  the  constitu- 
tion which  the  state  of  New  York  adopted  April  20,  1777, 
a  Committee  of  Appointment  was  made  a  part  of  the  state 
government.  This  committee  consisted  of  the  governor 
and  four  state  senators,  and  was  empowered  to  appoint  all 
state  and  city  officials.  But  in  1821  it  was  decided  that  the 
city  council  of  New  York 
should  elect  the  mayor, 
and  it  was  not  until  1834 
that  the  people  of  the 
city  themselves  elected 
that  officer.  Since  that 
date  New  York  City 
has  had  numerous  char- 
ters, for  it  has  unfortu- 
nately happened  that  the 
legislature  of  the  state 
has  always  had  a  great 
deal  to  do  with  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  city. 
Only  about  thirty  years  ago  all  the  expenses  of  the  city  were 
voted  at  Albany,  and  until  1895  laws  could  be  passed  by 
the  state  legislature  affecting  the  city's  most  vital  interest, 
without  any  notice  to  the  local  authorities  whatever.  This 


FIG.  16.    The  Present  Seal  of 
New  York  City 


26      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

is  one  of  the  reasons  why  there  have  been  so  many  changes 
in  the  charters  of  the  city. 

The  Formation  of  the  Boroughs.  By  the  middle  of  the 
last  century  many  of  the  people  who  lived  in  the  counties 
near  Manhattan  Island  had  all  their  business  interests  cen- 
tered in  New  York  City.  Even  at  that  early  date  the  sub- 
ject of  uniting  these  counties  into  one  municipality  began  to 


FIG.  17.    New  York  Harbor  from  Battery  Park 

be  discussed.  Men  whose  homes  were  beyond  either  of  the 
rivers,  but  whose  business  was  in  the  city,  keenly  felt  the 
necessity  for  this  union,  but  it  was  not  accomplished  until 
1897.  At  that  time  the  proposition  to  unite  into  one 
municipality,  under  the  corporate  name  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  the  various  communities  lying  in  and  about  New 
York  harbor  was  submitted  to  the  people  living  in  these 
districts.  By  a  very  large  vote  it  was  decided  to  do  so. 


THE   CHARTER   HISTORY   OF   THE   CITY  27 

For  the  convenience  of  administration  the  legislature  divided 
the  enlarged  city  into  five  boroughs,  which,  according  to 
their  importance  in  population,  are  designated  Manhattan, 
Brooklyn,  The  Bronx,  Queens,  and  Richmond.  Thus  con- 
stituted, Greater  New  York  is  the  second  city  in  size, 
wealth,  and  influence  in  the  world. 

How  the  Present  Charter  of  the  City  of  New  York  was 
Made.  After  the  consolidation  of  the  boroughs  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  state  appointed  a  commission,  consisting  of 
some  of  the  representative  lawyers  of  the  territory  to  be 
consolidated,  to  prepare  a  charter  which  would  meet  the 
needs  of  the  enlarged  city.  This  commission  made  an  ex- 
haustive study  not  only  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  —  which  is  the  model  constitution  of  all  the  world, 
—  but  also  of  the  charters  of  all  our  own  great  cities  and 
those  of  Europe.  With  the  utmost  care  they  wrote  a  draft 
of  the  charter.  This  they  presented  to  the  state  legislature 
and,  with  some  modifications,  it  was  adopted.  It  went  into 
effect  January  i,  1898. 

But  notwithstanding  all  the  study  that  had  been  given 
the  charter,  it  was  found,  when  in  active  operation,  that 
it  contained  defects.  The  governor  therefore  appointed 
another  commission  to  revise  it,  and  again  several  months 
were  spent  in  this  work.  At  the  end  of  the  time  the 
draft  of  the  modified  charter  was  presented  to  the  state 
legislature  and  after  due  consideration  by  that  body  it  was 
adopted.  This  revised  charter  went  into  effect  on  Janu- 
ary i,  1901.  It  is  a  development  of  the  charters  of  the 
old  City  of  New  York,  Brooklyn,  and  Long  Island  City,  and 
was  written  with  the  intention  of  giving  Greater  New  York 
more  power  in  conducting  its  own  affairs,  with  as  little 


28      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 

legislation  as  possible  on  the  part  of  the  state  legislature. 
It  divides  the  city  government  into  three  branches,  —  the 
legislative,  the  executive,  and  the  judicial.  The  legislative 
branch,  which  makes  the  laws  of  the  city,  is  the  Board  of 
Aldermen.  The  executive  branch,  which  sees  that  the  laws 
are  enforced,  is  vested  in  the  mayor  and  his  executive 
helpers,  who  are  the  borough  presidents ;  the  heads  of  the 
administrative  departments  ;  and  certain  executive  boards. 
The  judicial  branch  includes  the  majority  of  the  courts  of 
the  city  and  the  work  performed  by  them. 

But  while  charters  are  essential  to  the  good  government 
of  the  city,  it  is  well  for  us  to  remember  that  neither  char- 
ters nor  any  amount  of  organization  will  ever  make  good 
government.  The  fact  that  the  vote  of  the  people  makes  the 
government  what  it  is,  should  not  be  forgotten  ;  nor  should 
another  important  fact  be  overlooked,  that  if  there  is  to  be 
good  government,  good  people  must  fill  the  public  offices. 

Summary.  Towns  and  cities  developed  from  the  walled  inclosures 
of  the  primitive  tribes.  A  city  is  a  municipal  corporation.  State  legis- 
latures grant  cities  their  charters.  New  York  was  among  the  first 
of  the  cities  in  North  America  to  obtain  a  charter.  There  were  sev- 
eral charters  granted  to  New  Netherland  during  Dutch  colonization. 
Governor  Nicolls  put  the  first  English  charter  in  operation.  The 
Dongan  and  the  Montgomerie  charters  are  notable  in  the  history  of 
New  York.  After  the  Revolution,  New  York  State  adopted  a  consti- 
tution by  which  much  of  the  elective  power  was  withheld  from  the 
people ;  by  later  enactments  liberal  suffrage  laws  became  general. 
After  the  consolidation  of  the  city  into  the  present  five  boroughs  a 
new  charter  was  adopted.  It  was  revised  and,  in  its  present  form, 
went  into  effect  January  i,  1901. 


CHAPTER    III 


ELECTIONS  IN  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

Electors'  Rights  in  Colonial  Days.  During  Dutch  occu- 
pation of  New  Netherland  the  colonists  had  but  limited 
privileges  of  suffrage, 
that  is,  the  right  to  vote, 
nor  was  that  condition 
much  improved  while 
they  were  under  English 
dominion.  The  Dutch 
direcktors  were  ap- 
pointed by  the  fur- 
trading  companies,  with 
the  approval  of  the 
states -general  at  Am- 
sterdam, and  they  were 
far  more  desirous  to 
further  the  financial 
interests  of  the  trading 
company  than  to  estab- 
lish a  colony  which 
might  become  suf- 
ficiently  powerful  to 
demand  independence. 

But    the    Colonists    FlG*  !  8-  Ward's  Statue  of  Washington  on  the 

Steps  of  the  United  States  Subtreasury 

brought  with  them  from 

Holland  the  idea  of  the  limited  suffrage  prevailing  in  the 

29 


30      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 

home  land,  and  to  secure  the  same  privileges  in  their  new 
home  they  contended  unceasingly  with  all  the  direcktors. 
Through  their  efforts,  while  Peter  Stuyvesant  was  governor, 
New  Amsterdam  was  made  a  city  and  the  outlying  districts  . 
were  granted  village  rights.  A  few  years  later  the  freeholders 
were  allowed  to  elect  the  officers  of  the  local  government. 

Within  a  year  or  so  after  the  province  passed  under 
English  dominion  it  became  subject  to  the  same  laws 
which  governed  Massachusetts,  and  by  degrees  the  right 
of  suffrage  broadened.  Toward  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century  citizens  who  owned  a  prescribed  amount  of  prop- 
erty could  vote,  but  the  restrictions  were  many.  Quakers 
could  not  vote,  nor  indeed  could  any  one  who  did  not  be- 
long to  the  church.  An  old  ordinance  records  that  "  drunk- 
ards, common  lyars,  swearers,  and  apostates  from  the 
fundamentals  of  religion  "  were  also  denied  the  right.  The 
fact  that  English  dominion  allowed  the  colonists  less  and 
less  self-government  eventually  led  to  the  Revolution  and 
the  independence  of  the  colonies.  When  our  federal  gov- 
ernment came  into  existence  the  right  of  suffrage  was 
made  one  of  the  underlying  principles  of  the  constitution, 
and  in  course  of  time  each  state  of  the  Union  regulated  its 
own  election  laws. 

The  Australian  Voting  System.  For  many  years  at  the 
elections  throughout  the  country  there  were  almost  as 
many  ballots  as  there  were  candidates  for  office.  This 
naturally  led  to  much  confusion  and  often  to  dishonesty. 
From  Australia,  an  island  way  over  on  the  other  side  of  the 
world,  the  United  States  finally  learned  the  best  method  of 
conducting  an  election.  Now  the  Australian  system,  with 
some  modifications,  is  adopted  in  the  majority  of  the  states. 


ELECTIONS   IN  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK         31 

The  Australian  Ballot  is  a  large  sheet  of  paper  on  which 
is  printed  a  number  of  columns.  Each  column  bears  the 
name  and  emblems  of  a  different  political  party.  The  accom- 
panying picture  illustrates  this.  In  addition  to  the  columns 
bearing  the  names  of  the  political  parties,  there  is  also  a 
blank  column  in  which  the  voter  may  write  the  name  of  any 
person  for  whom  he  wishes  to  vote,  if  he  does  not  find  it  in 
the  others.  Under  the  emblem  and  above  the  party  name 


FIG.  19.    Upper  Part  of  an  Australian  Ballot 

is  a  small  circle ;  opposite  the  name  of  each  candidate  and 
the  office  for  which  he  is  running  there  is  a  blank  square. 
These  are  called  the  voting  spaces,  for  in  them  the  voter 
indicates  his  choice.  If  the  elector  or  voter  wishes  to  vote 
for  all  the  candidates  of  any  one  party,  he  merely  makes  a 
cross  (X)  in  the  circle  at  the  top  of  his  party  column.  This 
is  called  voting  a  "straight  ticket."  If  he  wants  to  vote 
for  men  of  different  parties,  he  omits  the  cross  (X)  in  the 
circle,  but  makes  it  in  the  blank  square  opposite  the  name 
of  any  man  on  the  ballot  for  whom  he  wants  to  vote. 
This  is  voting  a  " split  ticket."  This  system  of  voting  also 


32      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

provides  for  a  number  of  small  booths  in  the  polling  places, 
into  one  of  which  the  voter  goes  by  himself  to  cast  his  ballot ; 
if  he  is  blind  or  otherwise  unable  to  prepare  his  ballot,  he  is 
helped  by  some  one  appointed  for  that  purpose. 

The  City  Elections.  The  national  elections,  when  the 
President  of  the  United  States  and  many  state  governors 
are  elected,  are  held  on  the  alternate  even  years,  on  the 
first  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  in  November.  The 
constitution  of  the  state  of  New  York  provides  that  city 
officers  shall  be  elected  in  the  odd-numbered  years  on  the 
first  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  in  November.  It  is 
a  wise  provision  that  national  and  city  elections  should  be 
held  at  different  times,  in  order  that  local  issues  may  not 
be  overlooked  or  biased  by  national  affairs. 

Besides  the  mayor  two  other  city  officials  are  elected  by 
the  votes  of  all  the  electors  in  the  five  boroughs  of  New 
York.  They  are  the  comptroller,  who  is  the  financial 
executive  officer  of  the  city,  and  the  president  of  the  Board 
of  Aldermen,  who  fills  the  mayor's  place  when  he  is  absent. 
Elections  thus  show  the  will  of  the  people,  and,  as  the  right 
to  vote  is  one  of  the  underlying  principles  of  our  government, 
every  possible  safeguard  is  thrown  around  them. 

How  an  Election  is  Conducted.  In  a  great  city  like  New 
York  an  election  entails  an  immense  amount  of  work,  and 
there  is  always  danger  of  fraud  in  connection  with  it.  For 
this  reason  all  matters  pertaining  to  it  are  placed  in  charge  of 
four  men  called  the  Commissioners  of  the  Board  of  Elections. 
Their  work  is  so  important  that  each  of  them  receives  an 
annual  salary  of  five  thousand  dollars.  Under  their  supervision 
the  city  is  divided  into  many  hundred  small  sections,  or  elec- 
tion districts,  with  from  four  to  six  hundred  electors  in  each. 


33 


34      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE   CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 

Primary  Elections.  For  months  before  an  election  the 
commissioners  are  busy  preparing  for  it.  In  the  spring 
and  summer  of  an  election  year  they  call  meetings  in  the 
different  city  districts,  which  may  be  attended,  and  cer- 
tainly should  be,  by  all  the  electors  of  the  respective 
boroughs.  These  meetings  are  the  primaries,  at  which 
delegates  to  the  city,  county,  and  state  conventions  are 
elected.  At  these  conventions  the  various  nominations  are 
made.  At  least  twenty-five  days  before  an  election  all  the 
political  parties  of  the  city  file  with  the  Board  of  Elections 
certificates  of  nomination  containing  the  names  of  the  men 
nominated  for  office. 

Board  of  Elections.  On  July  i,  before  an  election,  each 
of  the  political  parties  sends  to  this  board  the  names  of 
the  men  whom  it  wishes  to  serve  as  election  officers  in  the 
various  districts  on  election  day.  These  officers  —  four 
inspectors,  two  poll  clerks,  and  two  ballot  clerks  —  have 
charge  of  the  polling  places,  or  rooms  where  the  voting  is 
done,  and  they  count  the  votes  at  the  close  of  the  day. 
The  Board  of  Elections  also  selects  the  polling  places,  and 
about  the  middle  of  October  announces  through  the  daily 
papers  their  location  in  each  election  district. 

Registration.  Every  male  citizen  twenty-one  years  of 
age  or  over  may  vote  at  the  elections  ;  but  if  he  intends 
to  do  so,  he  must,  on  certain  days  in  October  preceding  an 
election,  go  to  the  polling  place  of  his  election  district  and 
have  his  name  recorded.  He  is  there  asked  where  he  resides, 
how  long  he  has  lived  in  the  city,  county,  and  state,  from 
what  address  he  last  voted,  and  how  old  he  is.  The  officers 
record  his  answers  in  books  kept  for  that  purpose,  as  well 
as  a  description  of  his  personal  appearance,  to  identify  him 


ELECTIONS   IN   THE   CITY  OF  NEW  YORK         35 

in  case  another  man  should  attempt  to  vote  in  his  name. 
The  names  and  addresses  are  all  verified  by  personal  visits, 
and  if  an  elector  has  given  a  wrong  address  or  registered 
more  than  once,  his  name  is  dropped  from  the  list.  This 
list  of  electors  is  published  and  any  one  can  secure  a  copy  of 


BOARD    OF    ELECTIONS 

OF  THE 

CITY  OF  NEW  YORK. 

General    Offices,    107    West   41st   St., 

Borough  of  Manhattan. 

Notice  is  hereby  Riven,  In  pursuance  of  Chapter  909  of 
the  Laws  of  1896,  as  amended  by  Section  10,  Chapter  05, 
LAWS  of  1901.  of  the  boundaries  of  each  of  the  election 
districts  In  the  County  of  New  York,  of  the  designation 
of  the  place  of  Registration,  for  October  9th,  10th,  14th 
and  16th,  and  of  tb«^  polling  place  for  the  Election  to  be 
held  November  7th.  ]M)f».  in  each  of  the  election  districts 
in  said  County,  as  foljows,  viz. : 

COUNTY   OF  NEW  YORK. 
BOROUGH   OF  MANHATTAN. 

FIRST    ASSEMBLY    DISTRICT. 
E..D.     Location.  Occupied  as 

1.  .36  Greenwich  st. ....... .Candy  store 

2. .  10   Washington    st.  . , Employment  office 

3..  106  Greenwich  st Confectionery 


FIG.  21.    A  Registration  Notice 

it.  On  election  day  each  party  watcher  at  the  polls  has  a 
copy  of  the  list,  on  which  he  checks  the  names  of  the  electors 
as  they  vote.  As  the  time  for  closing  the  polls  arrives  there 
is  a  great  scramble  by  the  party  workers  for  the  men  whose 
names  are  still  unchecked,  as  every  vote  is  desired.  At 
least  six  days  before  an  election  the  Board  of  Elections 
must  publish  in  the  city  papers  the  names  of  all  candidates 


36      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 


for  office,  and  at  about  the  same  time  it  must  have  ready 
for  general  distribution  sample  ballots  like  those  to  be  used 
on  election  day.  This  gives  the  voters  an  opportunity  to 
study  the  ballots  and  to  learn  just  how  to  mark  them,  or 
how  to  "  cast  their  ballots,"  as  it  is  called. 

How  the  Voting  is  Done.  On  election  day  the  election 
officers  must  be  in  the  polling  places  by  five  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  an  hour  before  the  voting  can  begin.  The  booths 
are  open  until  five  in  the  evening.  When  a  voter  comes  to 

the  polling  place  he  approaches 
the  inspector  and  announces  his 
name  and  address.  The  clerk 
refers  to  the  registration  books, 
and,  if  the  elector's  name  is  found 
properly  recorded,  he  is  given  a 
folded  ballot  bearing  a  number 
which  is  entered  in  the  books 
opposite  his  name.  But  if  one  of 
the  party  watchers  has  reason 
to  doubt  the  man's  right  to  vote, 
he  challenges  his  vote,  that  is,  he 
states  his  objection.  If  an  elector 
is  challenged  he  has  the  privilege 
of  swearing  in  his  vote,  and  if  he  does  so  he  is  allowed  to 
cast  his  ballot ;  but  if  he  refuses  to  take  the  oath  he  is  not 
allowed  to  vote.  If  he  is  eligible  he  goes  alone  into  one  of 
the  booths,  takes  the  ballot  which  has  been  handed  to  him, 
spreads  it  out  on  the  little  shelf  which  is  provided  for  that 
purpose,  and  selects  the  names  of  the  men  whom  he  would 
like  to  see  elected.  He  then  makes  a  little  cross  opposite  each 
name,  or  in  the  circle  above  it  if  they  are  all  of  one  party.  He 


FIG.  22.   Interior  of  Voting 
Booth 


ELECTIONS   IN  THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 


37 


folds  his  ballot  in  the  same  manner  in  which  he  received  it, 
returns  to  the  inclosure  where  the  election  officers  are,  and 
hands  his  ballot  to  the  inspector  standing  by  the  ballot 
box.  This  officer  tears  off  the  numbered  stub  from  the 
rest  of  the  ballot  and  drops  each  part  through  a  slot  into 


FIG.  23.    Public  School  No.  9,  Manhattan 

the  proper  ballot  box.  The  boxes  are  locked  and  are  not 
opened  till  the  polls  are  closed.  At  the  close  of  the  election 
the  votes  are  counted  by  the  election  officers  in  the  presence 
of  any  citizens  who  may  wish  to  witness  the  count.  The 
nominees  who  have  received  the  largest  number  of  votes 
are  declared  elected.  City  officials  are  installed  at  noon 
on  the  first  day  of  January  following  their  election. 


38      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 


Citizenship.  Two  boys  were  playing  one  day  when  the 
younger  said  to  the  older :  "  My  father  is  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States  now.  He  took  out  his  papers  yesterday,  and 
when  I  'm  a  big  man  I  'm  going  to  take  out  papers  and  be 
a  citizen  too." 

"  You  will  not  have  to  do  that,"  replied  the  older  boy. 
"  You  are  a  citizen  now  because  your  father  took  out  the 
papers  which  made  him  a  citizen  yesterday.  That  made 
you  a  citizen  also,  because  you  are  his  son." 

And  what  the  older  boy  said  is  true,  for  all  the  boys  and 
girls  whose  parents  are  foreign  born,  but  who  have  made 


FIG.  24.  The  Flag  of  our 
Country,  —  the  Symbol 
far  above  Party  Symbols 


themselves  citizens,  are  citizens  too  by  virtue  of  their  parents' 
naturalization.  Of  course  all  the  American  men  and  women 
who  were  born  in  this  country  are  citizens  of  it,  and  their 
children  are  also,  even  if  some  of  them  chanced  to  be  born 
in  other  countries  while  their  parents  were  visiting  there. 
Any  foreigner,  except  the  Mongolian,  may  become  a  citizen 
of  the  United  States  by  residing  within  them  for  five  years, 
providing  he  files  what  is  termed  a  "declaration  of  intention  " 
at  least  two  years  before  his  naturalization.  Two  years  later 


ELECTIONS   IN  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK         39 

he  swears  before  two  witnesses  that  he  has  resided  in  the 
United  States  five  years  and  wishes  to  become  a  citizen.  He 
then  receives  his  naturalization  papers,  which  certify  that  he 
is  fully  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  of  citizenship.  This  makes 
not  only  the  man  a  citizen,  but  his  wife,  and  all  of  his  children 
under  twenty-one  years  of  age.  Any  son  who  is  older  than 
twenty-one  must  take  out  his  own  naturalization  papers. 

Every  legalized  male  citizen  of  New  York  City  may  vote 
at  the  municipal  elections  and  help  to  govern  the  city.  This 
is  a  grave  responsibility,  for  the  municipal  government  guards 
the  public  health,  maintains  the  educational  system,  and  sees 
that  the  public  money  is  collected  and  honestly  expended.  It 
provides  an  abundant  water  supply,  looks  after  the  sewerage 
and  highways,  and  keeps  the  streets  and  pavements  clean  and 
in  repair.  It  has  control  of  the  bridges,  docks  and  ferries, 
and  parks.  It  is  responsible  for  the  faithfulness  of  the  police 
and  fire  departments ;  it  cares  for  the  poor  and  criminal  classes ; 
it  retains  a  city  counsel  and  a  large  corps  of  lawyers  to  protect 
the  interests  of  the  corporation.  It  prevents  the  erection  of 
unsafe  buildings  and  sees  that  the  transportation  facilities 
meet  the  public  needs.  How  the  municipal  government  has 
grown  to  what  it  is  and  how  it  performs  this  work  will  be 
taken  up  in  detail  in  the  following  chapters  of  this  book. 

Summary.  During  the  Dutch  and  English  colonization  of  New 
York  citizens  had  few  rights  of  suffrage.  The  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  made  suffrage  one  of  its  underlying  principles.  The 
Australian  system  does  away  with  numerous  ballots  and  is  a  long  step 
toward  honesty  in  elections.  The  city  elections  of  New  York  are 
conducted  by  the  Board  of  Elections.  The  citizenship  of  the  parent 
confers  citizenship  upon  minor  children.  The  privilege  of  citizenship 
carries  with  it  much  responsibility. 


CHAPTER   IV 
THOSE  WHO  MAKE  OUR  LAWS:   THE  BOARD   OF  ALDERMEN 

The  Legislative  Branch  of  Government.  Suppose  nine 
boys  are  elected  to  play  on  a  baseball  team.  A  captain  is 
chosen  to  lead  the  team,  and  perhaps  a  coach  is  hired  to 
train  it.  They  must  also  have  rules  for  playing,  or  the 
pitcher  might  not  aim  the  balls  over  the  base,  or  the  batter 
might  have  to  strike  at  bad  balls.  In  fact,  there  could  be 
no  game  without  rules.  In  the  same  way  there  must  be 
rules,  or  laws,  for  carrying  on  the  city's  business.  The 
citizens  themselves  must  follow  these  rules ;  they  must 
have  officers  who  will  enforce  them  and  manage  the  affairs 
of  the  city.  The  City  of  New  York  is  too  .large  for  all  the 
citizens  to  meet  together  to  make  the  necessary  ordinances, 
as  the  laws  of  a  city  are  called,  so  certain  men  are  elected 
for  this  purpose.  The  lawmaking  or  legislative  branch  of 
the  City  of  New  York  is  called  the  Board  of  Aldermen. 

Scope  of  Municipal  or  City  Legislation.  The  school 
baseball  team  makes  rules  only  for  itself.  There  would  be 
no  use  in  its  voting  for  a  longer  recess  at  school,  for  the 
team  has  power  to  manage  merely  the  business  of  the  team. 
So  the  city  is  limited  to  making  laws  for  conducting  the 
business  of  the  city.  As  it  is  a  part  of  the  state,  the  city 
can  do  only  those  things  for  which  power  is  given  it  by  the 
state  legislature.  The  city  charter  states  just  what  this 
power  is.  The  nation  and  the  state  make  laws  which  oper- 
ate in  every  part  of  their  territory,  so  they  operate  in  the 

40 


THE  BOARD   OF  ALDERMEN  41 

city  side  by  side  with  the  city  ordinances.  For  example,  no 
one  in  the  City  of  New  York  may  import  certain  articles 
from  Europe  without  paying  duty  because  there  is  a 
national  law  against  it.  No  manufacturer  may  employ  a 
child  under  fourteen  years  of  age  because  there  is  a  state 


FIG.  25.   Room  in  which  the  Aldermen  Meet 

law  against  it.  No  one  in  the  City  of  New  York  may  run 
an  automobile  faster  than  a  certain  rate  because  there  is  a 
city  ordinance  against  it.  Thus  we  see  that  the  national, 
state,  and  city  laws  operate  side  by  side  in  the  city.  The 
city  may  not  pass  any  ordinance  contrary  to  national  or 
state  laws,  and  may  pass  only  such  ordinances  as  are  spe- 
cifically provided  for  in  its  charter. 


42      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

The  Board  of  Aldermen.  As  the  City  of  New  York  is 
too  large  for  all  the  citizens  to  meet  together  to  make  their 
laws,  they  elect  men  to  represent  them,  and  pay  them  to 
devote  their  time  to  this  work.  This  body  of  men  is  called 
the  Board  of  Aldermen.  It  is  made  up  of  members  elected 
one  from  each  aldermanic  district  of  the  city,  the  president 


FIG.  26.    The  City  Hall,  Brooklyn 

of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  and  the  presidents  of  the  sev- 
eral boroughs.  These  meet  to  make  the  city  ordinances. 
The  charter  says,  "The  legislative  power  of  the  City  of 
New  York  shall  be  vested  in  one  house,"  which  means 
simply  that  all  members  of  the  board  shall  meet  together. 

The  Powers  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  in  general,  are 
to  pass  any  ordinances  "  which  may  seem  mete  for  the  good 
rule  and  government  of  New  York,"  but  these  must  not  be 


THE  BOARD  OF  ALDERMEN  43 

contrary  to  national  or  state  laws.  The  board  may  also 
pass  any  resolution  or  ordinance  necessary  to  carry  out 
city  laws,  and  may  decree  fines  and  imprisonment  for  those 
who  disobey  them.  For  example,  the  city  passed  an  ordi- 
nance increasing  the  water  supply.  In  order  to  carry  this 
out  it  passed  another  ordinance  to  purchase  Croton  Lake, 
in  New  York  State.  To  keep  the  water  clean  the  board 
imposes  a  fine  upon  any  one  who  pollutes  it.  The  Board 
of  Aldermen,  with  the  approval  of  the  Board  of  Esti- 
mate and  Apportionment,  issued  bonds  for  the  purchase 
of  the  lake.  These  bonds  were  sold.  A  bond  is  a  written 
obligation  to  pay  a  certain  amount  of  interest  on  a  given 
amount  of  money,  and  at  a  specified  time  to  pay  the  amount 
of  money.  It  is  in  this  way  that  the  city  borrows  money  to 
pay  extra  expenses.  The  board  also  appropriates  money 
for  the  Budget,  the  annual  expense  account  of  the  city, 
and  may  issue  a  large  number  of  licenses  and  regulations 
for  different  kinds  of  business.  To  preserve  order  the 
board  may  pass  ordinances  and  rules  concerning  intoxica- 
tion, fighting  and  quarreling  in  the  streets,  or  the  breaking 
or  defacing  of  other  people's  property. 

The  board  also  has  power  to  make  rules  for  carrying 
on  its  own  business.  Numbering  seventy-three  members,  it 
is  divided  into  about  twenty-four  committees,  which  have 
charge  of  this  work.  There  is  the  Committee  of  Finance, 
the  Committee  of  Railroads,  the  Committee  of  Salaries  and 
Officers,  and  numerous  others.  If  an  ordinance  comes  up 
in  regard  to  street  cleaning,  it  is  referred  to  the  Committee 
on  Street  Cleaning  before  the  board  acts  upon  it.  The 
committee  makes  a  study  as  to  whether  the  ordinance  is 
needed,  how  much  it  will  cost,  and  all  about  it.  It  then 


44       GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 

reports  to  the  board  with  recommendations  as  to  whether 
the  ordinance  should  be  passed  or  rejected.  If  a  committee 
sees  that  any  ordinance  is  needed,  it  frequently  introduces 
the  ordinance  with  the  recommendation  that  it  be  passed. 
This  committee  system  is  necessary  in  every  large  board, 
for  it  is  impossible  for  each  of  the  members  to  make  a 
detailed  study  of  the  innumerable  things  which  come  up 
before  the  whole  board.  The  foregoing  does  not  tell  of  all 
the  duties  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  but  is  sufficient  to 
show  that  it  has  power  to  carry  on  the  business  of  the  city 
and  to  maintain  peace  and  order. 

Members  elected  from  the  Aldermanic  Districts.  Since 
the  aldermen  represent  the  citizens,  it  is  only  fair  that  they 
should  be  in  as  close  touch  with  them  as  possible.  For  this 
purpose  the  city  is  divided  into  aldermanic  districts,  and  at 
the  general  city  election  the  citizens  in  each  district  vote  for 
the  alderman  who  is  to  represent  them  on  the  board.  This 
is  in  accordance  with  the  principle  of  representation  so  dear 
to  the  citizens  of  our  country  and  so  necessary  to  the  lib- 
erties of  the  people.  Any  citizen  of  the  United  States  liv- 
ing in  New  York  City  may  be  elected  an  alderman.  His 
term  of  office  is  for  two  years,  with  a  salary  of  one  thou- 
sand dollars  a  year.  The  aldermanic  districts  are  changed 
every  ten  years,  when  a  new  census  is  taken  in  order  that 
all  districts  may  contain  about  the  same  number  of  citizens. 
From  1896  until  1906  there  were  seventy-three  aldermanic 
districts.  While  each  alderman  looks  after  the  particular 
interests  of  the  district  he  represents,  he  should  always 
act  for  the  good  of  the  city  as  a  whole.  If  the  citizens  do 
not  approve  of  their  alderman's  work  on  the  board,  they 
may  choose  a  different  man  at  the  next  election.  In  this 


45 


46      GOVERNMENT   OF  THE  CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 

way  the  interests  of  the  city  are  protected.  Do  you  know 
the  name  of  the  alderman  who  represents  your  district  on 
the  board  ? 

The  President  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  is  elected  by  all 
the  citizens  at  the  general  city  election  for  a  term  of  two 
years.  His  salary  of  five  thousand  dollars  is  fixed  by  the 
charter,  as  are  the  salaries  of  the  majority  of  the  city 
officials.  It  is  his  duty  to  preside  at  the  meetings  of  the 


FIG.  28.    The  Plaza,  Prospect  Park 

board.  When  the  mayor  is  unable  to  attend  to  the  duties  of 
his  office  through  illness  or  absence  from  the  city,  the  presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  acts  in  his  place.  This  does 
not  entitle  him,  however,  to  all  the  powers  of  mayor.  He 
may  not  remove  any  official  nor  make  executive  appoint- 
ments unless  the  mayor  has  been  absent  thirty  days,  nor 
may  he  sign,  nor  approve,  nor  veto  any  ordinance  unless 
the  mayor  has  been  absent  nine  days.  It  is  necessary  that 


THE  BOARD   OF  ALDERMEN 


47 


the  presiding  officer  of  the  board  should  represent  all  the 
citizens,  and  that  is  why  the  president  of  the  Board  of 
Aldermen  is  elected  by  the  entire  city  and  not  by  any 
particular  district. 

Those  who  sit  on  the  Board  but  have  no  Vote.  As  we 
shall  see  later,  the  mayor  has  a  great  number  of  helpers 
who  assist  him  in  carrying  out  the  laws  made  by  the  Board 


FIG.  29.    Public  School  No.  139,  Brooklyn 

of  Aldermen.  These  helpers  are  grouped  into  fifteen  execu- 
tive departments.  The  head  of  each  of  these  departments 
is  entitled  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the  board,  if  he  desires, 
and  to  take  part  in  the  discussions.  He  must  come  if  the 
board  wishes,  and  answer  any  questions  concerning  his 
department,  provided  he  has  forty-eight  hours'  notice.  This 
is  in  order  that  the  board  may  have  all  the  information 


48      GOVERNMENT   OF  THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 

needed  in  passing  ordinances.  If  the  board  plans  to  build 
a  new  public  playground,  it  may  wish  to  ask  the  president 
of  the  Board  of  Education  if  one  is  needed,  or  to  ask  the 
police  commissioner  about  furnishing  patrolmen  for  it. 
The  head  of  a  department  seldom  attends  the  meetings 
unless  an  appropriation  of  money  for  his  department  is  to 
come  before  the  board.  While  the  heads  of  the  depart- 
ments may  sit  in  the  board,  they  are  not  members  and  so 
have  no  vote. 

Meetings  of  the  Board  must  be  held  at  least  once  a 
month,  except  during  August  and  September,  although  they 
may  be  held  oftener.  In  fact,  every  Tuesday  morning  finds 
the  Board  of  Aldermen  in  session.  They  usually  meet  for 
one  day  only,  leaving  the  unfinished  business  for  the  follow- 
ing Tuesday,  unless  something  very  important  demands  a 
special  meeting.  A  majority  of  the  members,  that  is,  one 
more  than  half,  makes  what  is  called  a  quorum,  and  a  quo- 
rum must  be  present  before  any  ordinance  can  be  passed. 
If  a  mayor  uses  his  power  of  veto,  that  is,  of  saying  No  to 
the  resolution  or  ordinance,  then  the  board  must  vote  again 
on  the  same  ordinance,  not,  however,  before  ten  days,  but 
within  the  fifteen  days  following.  At  the  second  voting  it 
takes  two  thirds  of  the  members  to  pass  the  ordinance.  In 
case  it  deals  with  money  matters  a  three-fourths  vote  is 
needed.  If  a  special  meeting  of  the  board  is  called,  a  notice 
stating  the  time  of  meeting  and  the  business  to  be  taken 
up  is  signed  by  the  mayor  and  published  in  the  City  Record, 
the  official  publication  of  the  city.  A  copy  is  sent  to  each 
member,  so  that  no  subject  in  which  he  is  interested  can 
come  up  without  his  knowledge.  The  city  clerk  is  the 
secretary  of  the  board,  and  is  appointed  by  it  for  a  term 


FIG.  30.   The  Traffic  of  the  City  on  Lower  Broadway 
49 


50      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 

of  six  years.  One  of  his  many  duties  is  to  see  that  the 
proceedings  of  the  board  are  published  in  the  City  Record, 
which  can  be  obtained  by  any  citizen. 

Responsibilities  of  the  Board.  Such  varied  and  important 
powers  of  legislation  have  been  put  into  the  hands  of  the 
aldermen  that  grave  responsibility  rests  upon  them.  The 
men  chosen  for  the  board  should  be  not  only  honest  but 
wise  and  clear-sighted.  They  should  be  able  to  discern 
not  only  the  present  need  and  advisability  of  a  city  ordi- 
nance but  also  its  effect  upon  the  future. 

Summary.  The  legislative  power  of  the  City  of  New  York  is 
vested  in  the  Board  of  Aldermen.  This  power,  important  as  it  is,  is 
fully  denned  in  the  city  charter,  which  is  granted  by  the  state  legis- 
lature. The  Board  of  Aldermen  comprises  the  president  of  the  board, 
who  is  elected  by  the  entire  city,  the  borough  presidents,  who  are 
elected  by  the  citizens  of  each  borough,  and  the  members  of  the  board, 
who  are  elected  by  the  citizens  from  each  aldermanic  district.  These 
men  meet  once  a  week  to  make  the  ordinances  and  resolutions  in 
regard  to  carrying  on  the  city's  business.  Grave  responsibilities  rest 
upon  the  members  of  the  board. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  MAYOR 

Importance  of  the  Mayor  as  Chief  Executive  and  Chief 
Magistrate  of  the  City.  On  the  occasion  of  a  great  city 
celebration,  such  as  the  opening  of  a  new  bridge,  or  the  be- 
ginning of  some  magnificent  enterprise,  such  as  the  build- 
ing of  an  underground  railway,  who  is  the  most  important 
man  on  the  occasion,  the  one  who  in  his  official  capacity 
represents  the  city  ?  Yes,  you  are  right ;  he  is  the  mayor. 
Every  organization,  great  or  small,  must  have  some  one 
at  the  head  to  direct  its  affairs.  As  the  President  is  the 
chief  executive  of  the  United  States,  so  the  mayor  is 
the  chief  executive  of  a  city.  The  head  officer,  or  chief 
executive,  of  all  the  five  boroughs  of  New  York  City,  or 
Greater  New  York,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  is  the  mayor. 
The  importance  of  a  mayor's  position  depends  upon  the 
size  of  the  city  or  town ;  it  follows,  therefore,  that  by  far 
the  most  important  mayoralty  in  the  United  States  is  that 
of  New  York  City,  for  the  mayor  there  is  at  the  head  of 
the  largest  municipal  corporation  (the  other  term  by  which 
the  city  is  sometimes  called)  of  the  western  world. 

The  Mayoralty  in  Colonial  Days  and  After.  Many  years 
ago,  when  the  English  still  held  the  American  colonies, 
the  mayor  of  New  York  City  was  appointed  by  the  gov- 
ernor under  the  British  crown.  After  the  Revolution,  when 
the  Americans  themselves  governed  the  city,  the  mayor 
was  appointed  by  the  Committee  of  Appointment,  a  body 

51 


THE   MAYOR 


53 


consisting  of  the  governor  of  the  state  and  four  senators.  But 
the  people  did  not  like  that  very  well,  so  from  1821  until 
1 834  the  mayor  was  elected  by  the  Common  Council.  Even 
that  did  not  accord  with  the  idea  of  "  a  government  by  the 
people";  so  in  the  year  1834  the  mayor  was  elected  by 


FIG.  32.    The  Governor's  Room  in  the  Capitol  at  Albany 

the  direct  vote  of  the  citizen  electors,  and  that  has  con- 
tinued the  custom  ever  since.  If  you  will  go  down  to  the 
city  hall,  in  the  lower  part  of  Manhattan,  you  will  find  in 
the  mayor's  office,  and  in  several  of  the  other  rooms  of  the 
building,  portrait  paintings  of  many  of  the  men  who  have 
been  the  mayors  of  New  York  City.  Some  of  these  men 
have  been  largely  identified  with  the  growth  and  prosperity 
of  the  city. 


54      GOVERNMENT   OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


The  mayoralty  has  grown  in  importance  with  the  growth 
of  the  municipal  corporation  and  has  been  subject  to  a 
number  of  changes.  At  first,  as  has  just  been  said,  the 
mayor  was  appointed,  next  he  was  elected  by  the  city 
council,  and  then  he  was  placed  in  his  office  by  the  direct 
vote  of  the  people.  Sometimes  he  has  held  his  office  for 
two  years,  sometimes  for  four,  and  there  have  been  charters 

in  force  which  required 
his  election  every  year. 
The  present  charter  pro- 
vides for  a  term  of  four 
years  beginning  on  the 
first  day  of  January  fol- 
lowing the  November  in 
which  he  is  elected.  The 
mayor  receives  a  larger 
salary  than  the  governor 
of  the  state  ;  the  former 
is  paid  fifteen  thousand 
dollars  a  year,  while  the 
latter  receives  but  ten 
thousand. 

One  evening  a  schoolboy  said  to  his  father :  "  It  is  a 
fine  thing,  is  n't  it,  father,  to  be  the  mayor  of  New  York  ? 
I  was  down  at  the  city  hall  this  morning  when  the  mayor, 
and  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  and  other  big  men  of  the  town 
were  there  to  receive  the  foreign  prince  who  is  now  in  this 
country.  The  mayor  drove  up  in  a  handsome  carriage,  and 
when  he  got  out  to  go  into  the  city  hall  everybody  took  off 
their  hats  and  cheered.  When  he  came  out  he  walked  arm 
in  arm  with  the  prince,  and  they  drove  over  the  city  together. 


FIG.  33.    James  Duane,  First  Mayor  after 
the  American  Revolution 


55 


56      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 

To-night  he  will  sit  at  the  head  of  the  table  at  the  great 
dinner  the  city  is  to  give  for  the  prince.  Oh,  it  must  be 
a  fine  thing  to  be  the  mayor  and  have  such  good  times  !  " 

"  It  is  true,  my  son,  that  it  is  a  fine  thing  to  be  the 
mayor  of  New  York,"  replied  the  lad's  father,  "  for  it  is 
the  highest  honor  a  city  can  show  one  of  its  citizens  ;  but 
the  office  carries  with  it  so  much  work  and  so  much  care 
that  it  far  outweighs  the  pleasure  of  such  a  scene  as  you 
saw  down  at  the  city  hall  this  morning." 

Let  us  see  what  the  duties  of  the  mayor  are,  which  the 
father  of  this  schoolboy  considered  so  heavy  and  responsible. 

The  Duties  of  the  Mayor.  The  city  charter  which  went 
into  effect  on  the  ist  of  January,  1901,  clearly  defines 
the  duties  of  the  mayor.  It  places  upon  him  more  respon- 
sibility for  the  good  government  of  the  city  than  any  pre- 
ceding charter,  in  that  it  gives  him  the  power  of  appointing 
and  removing  almost  all  the  executive  officers  of  the  city. 
That  power  not  only  calls  public  attention  to  all  his  own 
acts,  but  it  holds  him  responsible  for  the  acts  of  all  his 
subordinates.  As  he  has  the  power  of  removal  for  any 
cause  which  seems  to  him  justifiable,  he  must  necessarily  be 
responsible  for  the  fitness  of  the  men  he.  appoints,  as  well 
as  for  the  manner  in  which  they  perform  their  official  duties. 
The  only  city  officials  which  the  charter  does  not  provide  the 
mayor  with  power  to  remove,  no  matter  whether  appointed 
by  himself  or  his  predecessor,  are  the  comptroller,  the 
members  of  the  Board  of  Education,  the  Aqueduct  Com- 
missioners, the  trustees  of  the  College  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  the  trustees  of  Bellevue  and  allied  hospitals,  and 
certain  judicial  officials  for  whose  removal  other  provision 
is  made  by  the  constitution  of  the  state. 


THE   MAYOR 


57 


The  Mayor's  Veto.  One  of  the  greatest  powers  which 
the  charter  confers  upon  the  mayor  is  that  of  the  veto,  the 
Latin  word  meaning  "  I  forbid."  The  last  chapter  explained 
this  power  in  connection  with  the  ordinances  of  the  Board  of 
Aldermen.  In  addition  to  the  mayor's  power  of  veto  in  city 
legislation  the  charter  allows  him  the  veto  of  any  measure 


FIG.  35.    Public  School  No.  170,  Manhattan 

passed  by  the  state  legislature  which  in  his  judgment  is 
injurious  to  the  city.  A  mayor's  veto  often  focuses  atten- 
tion upon  some  unwise  public  measure  and  thus  defeats  it. 
Other  Duties  resting  upon  the  Mayor.  The  duties  de- 
volving upon  the  mayor  are  too  many  to  be  enumerated 
here,  but  in  addition  to  those  spoken  of  the  charter  de- 
clares that  he  must  keep  himself  informed  as  to  the  work 
of  the  various  administrative  departments  of  the  city 


58      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


FIG.  36.    Lincoln  Monument,  Brooklyn 


government ;  that  he 
must  be  diligent  in 
enforcing  the  ordi- 
nances of  the  city  and 
the  laws  of  the  state 
pertaining  to  the  city. 
Sufficient  to  keep  him 
busy,  surely  !  But  in 
addition  to  all  the  fore- 
going he  must  send 
one  or  more  reports 
annually  to  the  Board 
of  Aldermen,  telling 
the  condition  of  the 
finances  of  the  city,  — 
how  the  various 
departments  are  pros- 
pering, the  improve- 
ments which  have 
been  made,  and  those 
which  are  needed.  He 
is  also  a  member,  ex 
officio,  of  several 
important  bodies  con- 
nected with  the  mu- 
nicipality. He  is  chair- 
man of  the  Board  of 
Estimate  and  Appor- 
tionment,—  the  board 
which  has  charge  of 
the  money  of  the  city, 


THE   MAYOR 


59 


—  and,  as  its  chairman,  is  largely  responsible  for  the  manner 
in  which  the  money  is  expended.  He  is  also  a  member  of 
the  Sinking  Fund  Commission,  the  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
mission, the  Armory  Board,  the  Board  of  City  Records, 
and  is  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  Sailors'  Snug  Harbor. 
He  must  guard  the  treasury  against  the  schemes  of 
unscrupulous  people  who  think  that  because  they  have 
helped  to  elect  him  he  should  give  them  or  their  friends 
some  position,  or  employment  in  the  city  government.  He 
must  always  guard,  too,  against  the  unceasing  efforts  of 
great  corporations  to  gain  franchises  to  use  the  public 
highways.  As  head  of  the  city  the  mayor  also  issues  all 
public  proclamations,  takes  part  in  great  public  occasions, 
and  welcomes  distinguished  visitors.  He  is  the  repre- 
sentative citizen  and  must  in  all  things  uphold  the  dignity 
of  the  city.  He  can  be  removed  from  his  office  only  by 
the  governor  of  the  state. 

Through  all  these  various  channels  we  have  seen  how 
the  city  government  is  concentrated  upon  the  mayor,  but 
at  the  same  time,  as  we  shall  see  by  pursuing  this  study, 
the  charter  also  provides  for  local  self-government  through 
the  Board  of  Aldermen,  the  borough  presidents,  and  certain 
auxiliary  boards. 

Summary.  —  The  most  important  mayorality  in  the  United  States 
is  that  of  the  City  of  New  York.  The  mayor  there  is  elected  by 
the  electors  of  the  five  boroughs.  His  powers  and  duties  are  clearly 
defined  in  the  city  charter,  in  which  the  responsibility  of  the  city 
government  is  concentrated  upon  him.  He  is  personally  responsible 
for  the  fitness  of  the  men  he  appoints.  Through  the  power  of  veto 
he  controls  city  franchises,  many  of  the  measures  passed  by  the  Board 
of  Aldermen,  and  much  of  the  state  legislation  for  the  city.  He  may 
be  removed  by  the  governor  of  the  state. 


E1!BLI.:J&BB   ! 

mnmaamm.mil 


60 


CHAPTER  VI 

THOSE  WHO  CARRY  OUT  OUR  LAWS :   THE  MAYOR  AND 
HIS  HELPERS 

The  Executive  Branch  of  Government  is  that  department 
of  the  public  service  which  carries  out  the  laws.  In  the 
government  of  the  United  States  it  is  the  department 
which  is  under  the  direction  of  the  President,  who,  as  head 
of  the  nation,  sees  that  the  laws  enacted  by  Congress  are 
executed.  The  executive  branch  of  the  government  of  the 
City  of  New  York  is  similar  to  the  executive  branch  of  the 
government  of  the  United  States.  It  includes  the  mayor, 
who  is  the  chief  executive ;  the  borough  presidents,  who 
rank  next  to  the  mayor  in  official  importance  ;  the  officers  of 
the  fifteen  administrative  departments  of  the  city ;  and  the 
members  of  several  important  executive  boards.  For  exec- 
utive purposes  the  city  is  divided  into  five  boroughs  with 
many  subdivisions.  Some  of  these  are  the  aldermanic, 
judicial,  school,  local  improvement,  and  election  districts ; 
the  dock,  police,  fire,  and  street  cleaning  districts ;  besides 
the  districts  of  sanitary,  building,  and  school  inspection. 
But  New  York  City  is  too  large  to  be  administered  either 
conveniently  or  effectively  by  one  man.  Let  the  pupils 
think  of  some  of  the  features  of  the  city  for  a  moment 
and  they  will  appreciate  this  fact. 

Some  Features  of  New  York  City's  Area,  Population,  and 
Wealth.  In  area  Greater  New  York  covers  within  a  fraction 
of  three  hundred  and  twenty-seven  square  miles  and  includes 

61 


62      GOVERNMENT   OF  THE   CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 

the  whole  of  the  city  and  county  of  New  York,  the  city  of 
Brooklyn,  and  the  counties  of  Kings  and  Richmond,  and  part 
of  the  county  of  Queens.  In  marked  contrast  to  the  densely 
populated  parts  of  Manhattan  and  Brooklyn,  sections  of 
the  boroughs  of  Richmond  and  Queens  are  so  thinly  settled 
that  there  are  hundreds  of  acres  practically  unpeopled. 

New  York  State  has  a  population  of  seven  million  people ; 
and  more  than  half  of  that  number  live  within  the  limits  of 
the  city.  This  gives -the  city  a  population  larger  than  that 
of  any  state  in  the  Union,  except  three.  In  connection 
with  the  population  we  must  remember  that  it  is  remark- 
ably cosmopolitan  ;  that  is,  there  are  people  in  New  York 
City  from  almost  every  nation.  This  is  true  to  such  an 
extent  that  certain  parts  of  the  municipality  are  entirely 
given  over  to  these  peoples  from  other  lands,  and  the 
neighborhoods  where  they  live  are  called  by  their  home-land 
names  ;  such  as  Little  Italy,  Little  Germany,  Chinatown, 
The  Ghetto,  Little  Hungary,  and  Poverty  Hollow,  the  lat- 
ter a  name  facetiously  applied  to  a  section  occupied  by  the 
Irish.  Some  of  these  places  are  so  crowded  that  they  have 
become  the  densest  centers  of  population  on  the  globe. 

The  city  contains  about  two  hundred  thousand  buildings 
and  the  assessed  valuation  of  its  real  estate  reaches  beyond 
five  billion  dollars.  The  value  of  its  property,  personal  and 
real,  is  far  more  than  that.  While  this  is  but  the  faintest 
outline  of  what  the  city  is,  and  what  its  government  must 
involve,  it  will  enable  the  pupil  to  see  why  the  municipality 
is  too  large  to  be  administered  by  one  man.  It  will  also 
help  him  to  understand  why  it  is  necessary  for  each  of  the 
five  boroughs  to  have  a  president,  and  why  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  municipal  government  is  divided  into  fifteen 
executive  departments. 


64      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE   CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


The  Fifteen  Executive  De- 
partments. The  heads  of  these 
departments,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  comptroller,  are 
appointed  by  the  mayor,  and 
they  are  personally  responsible 
to  him  for  the  success  of  their 
respective  departments.  They 
look  after  the  money  of  the 
city,  the  expenses,  the  taxes, 
streets,  and  parks,  and  all 
franchises  of  the  city  govern- 
ment. In  short,  they  are  like 
the  managers  of  a  great  com- 
mercial enterprise  of  which  the 
mayor  and  Board  of  Aldermen 
would  be  regarded  as  the  head. 
It  is  their  business  to  see  that 
the  plans  of  the  mayor  and  the 
Board  of  Aldermen  are  carried 
into  effect,  and  that  the  City  of 
New  York  is  made  a  safe  and 
pleasant  place  in  which  to  live. 

The  Board  of  Estimate  and 
Apportionment.  The  most  im- 
portant of  the  executive  boards 
of  the  municipality  is  the  Board 
of  Estimate  and  Apportion- 
ment. As  it  requires  over  one 
hundred  million  dollars  to  pay 
the  expenses  of  the  city 


i 


THE  MAYOR  AND  HIS  HELPERS  65 

government  for  one  year,  it  naturally  follows  that  the 
utmost  care  should  be  exercised  to  see  that  the  money  is 
wisely  spent.  In  the  year  1870  this  board  was  organized, 
under  the  old  City  of  New  York,  to  pass  upon  all  expendi- 
tures of  money  made  by  the  city.  The  board  is  now  com- 
posed of  the  mayor,  the  comptroller,  and  the  president  of 
the  Board  of  Aldermen,  each  of  whom  has  three  votes  on  all 
questions  which  come  before  it ;  the  presidents  of  the  bor- 
oughs of  Manhattan  and  Brooklyn,  who  have  two  votes 
each ;  and  the  presidents  of  The  Bronx,  Richmond,  and 
Kings,  each  of  whom  has  one ;  and  all  of  whom  are  elective 
officials.  This  board  is  in  reality  the  governing  board  of 
the  city  and  stands  between  the  taxpayer  and  any  unwise 
expenditure  of  his  money. 

The  board  decides  how  much  money  shall  be  spent  on  all 
large  public  improvements,  what  streets  may  be  opened,  and 
in  what  manner  the  work  shall  be  done ;  it  authorizes  all  bond 
and  stock  issues  which  are  made  to  meet  these  expenses ;  it 
regulates  the  remuneration  of  all  the  city  employees,  except 
that  of  the  public  school  teachers  and  certain  employees  of 
the  police  and  fire  departments.  No  department  of  the  city 
government  can  enter  into  any.  enterprise  which  involves  a 
large  expenditure  of  money  without  first  obtaining  the  con- 
sent of  this  board.  The  expenses  of  the  city  are  submitted  to 
the  board  in  the  following  manner.  By  the  loth  of  every 
September  the  borough  presidents,  the  heads  of  each  of  the 
executive  departments,  and  the  heads  of  the  other  boards 
send  to  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  a  detailed 
estimate  of  the  amount  of  money  they  will  need  for  their 
expenses  during  the  coming  year.  At  about  the  same  time 
the  comptroller  estimates  the  amount  of  money  the  city  will 


FIG.  40.    St.  Paul's  Chapel 

Its  churchyard  is  in  ths  midst  of  the  busiest  section  of  the  city 
66 


THE   MAYOR  AND  HIS   HELPERS  67 

need  to  meet  its  other  obligations,  and  he  sends  this  estimate 
to  the  board.  The  board  takes  these  two  statements  of  the 
city's  needs  and  compares  them  with  an  estimate  of  the 
amount  of  money  which  will  come  into  the  city  from  all 
sources  of  revenue,  such  as  taxes,  rent  from  the  franchises, 
docks,  and  similar  sources.  From  the  result  of  this  com- 
parison the  board  decides  how  much  the  city  may  spend 


FIG.  41.    Public  School  No.  63,  Fulton  Avenue  and  One  Hundred 
and  Seventy-third  Street 

during  the  coming  year.  It  embodies  the  decision  it  reaches 
in  a  document  called  the  Annual  Budget,  which  is  the  official 
itemized  estimate  and  statement  of  all  moneys  needed,  and 
of  the  probable  income  from  all  sources.  This  Budget  is 
published  in  the  official  publication,  the  City  Record,  and  if 
a  taxpayer  objects  to  any  item  it  contains,  he  may,  durin^a 
specified  time,  bring  his  objection  before  the  board.  After 
its  preparation  the  board  sends  the  Budget  to  the  Board  of 
Aldermen,  who  cannot  increase,  but  who  may  reduce,  the 


68      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 

amounts  itemized,  and  who  must  approve  of  it  before  it  goes 
into  effect.  If  they  fail  to  act  upon  it  within  twenty  days  after 
it  is  submitted,  it  goes  into  effect  the  same  as  if  adopted. 

The  Commissioners  of  Accounts.  Another  executive  board 
which  looks  after  the  welfare  of  the  city  is  known  as  the 
Commissioners  of  Accounts.  It  is  comprised  of  two  men 
appointed  by  the  mayor,  who  are  to  a  certain  extent  his 
confidential  officers,  and  one  of  whom  must  be  a  certified 
public  accountant.  Every  three  months  they  are  required 
to  examine  the  receipts  and  the  disbursements  in  the  offices 
of  the  comptroller  and  the  chamberlain  (the  two  men  who 
have  charge  of  the  city's  money)  and  of  the  various  admin- 
istrative departments.  At  the  request  of  the  mayor  they 
make  special  audits  of  the  expenses  of  the  city,  and,  when- 
ever he  wishes,  look  into  the  accounts  of  any  city  official 
which  he  may  desire  to  have  investigated. 

The  Board  of  Assessors.  In  a  great  city  like  New  York 
the  corporation  is  constantly  opening  new  streets,  laying 
out  large  and  small  tracts  of  land  in  parks  and  public  res- 
ervations, condemning  buildings  which  must  come  down, 
buying  sites  for  schoolhouses  and  other  public  structures, 
besides  opening  thoroughfares  for  street  railways  and  kin- 
dred franchises.  All  this  entails  controversy  and  litigation, 
for  it  often  happens  that  in  these  transactions  the  city  con- 
demns private  property.  It  has  a  right  to  do  this  because 
no  man's  property  can  stand  in  the  way  of  the  public  good. 
Under  the  law  of  eminent  domain  the  city  can  take  any 
property  which  it  needs,  but  when  it  does  so  some  one 
must  decide  what  such  property  is  worth  to  both  the  city 
and  the  private  owner.  One  of  the  boards  before  which 
the  questions  arising  about  such  property  is  submitted  is 


THE  MAYOR  AND  HIS  HELPERS 


69 


the  Board  of  Assessors.  It  consists  of  three  men  appointed 
by  the  mayor,  and  they  make  all  assessments  for  local 
improvements  in  the  city  other  than  those  required  by  law 
to  be  confirmed  by  a  court  of  record.  This  board  meets 
regularly  each  week  on  Thursday  afternoon. 

The  Board  of  Revision  of  Assessments.  Another  board 
to  which  contested  questions  relative  to  the  revision,  cor- 
rection, and  confirmation  of  assessments  for  local  improve- 
ments are  referred,  is  the 
Board  of  Revision  of  As- 
sessments. This  board 
consists  of  the  comptrol- 
ler, the  corporation  coun- 
sel, and  the  president  of 
the  Department  of  Taxes 
and  Assessment,  who 
serve  without  salary.  It 
makes  the  final  decision 
in  the  questions  concern- 
ing the  rights  of  property 
holders  in  any  public  im- 
provements, except  on 


FIG.  42.    The  Washington  Arch 


the  assessments  which 
have  been  made  by  the 
commissioners  appointed  by  a  court  of  record,  and  those 
which  have  been  confirmed  by  the  Board  of  Assessors. 
Both  boards  appoint  secretaries  and  such  clerks  and  sub- 
ordinates as  they  may  need. 

Other  Boards  and  Bureaus.  In  addition  to  the  boards 
which  have  been  mentioned  there  are  several  others  which 
have  an  important  part  in  the  municipal  affairs  of  the 


;o   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

corporation.  There  is  one  called  a  Commission  of  the  Sink- 
ing Fund,  consisting  of  a  body  of  men  who  have  charge  of 
a  large  sum  of  money  belonging  to  the  city  and  known  as 
the  sinking  fund,  of  which  more  will  be  told  later.  There 
is  a  Bank  Commission  consisting  of  the  mayor,  the  cham- 
berlain, and  the  comptroller,  who  decide  in  which  banks 
the  money  of  the  corporation  shall  be  deposited.  There  is 
also  an  Aqueduct  Commission,  appointed  by  the  governor 
of  the  state,  which  has  charge  of  the  source  of  the  water 
supply  of  the  city. 

Among  the  bureaus  which  are  a  part  of  the  municipal 
government  is  the  Bureau  of  Licenses.  This  bureau  grants 
licenses  to  many  of  the  business  enterprises  carried  on  in 
the  city.  If  a  man  wishes  to  open  a  pawnbroker's  shop,  he 
must  obtain  a  license  from  this  bureau,  for  which  he  pays  two 
hundred  dollars  into  the  city  treasury.  Or,  if  he  wishes  to 
open  a  junk  shop,  he  must  obtain  a  license  and  pay  twenty 
dollars.  All  public  hacks,  carriages,  cabs,  and  express 
wagons,  as  well  as  push  carts  of  various  kinds,  fruit  stands, 
and  hand  organs,  must  secure  and  pay  for  licenses.  Cer- 
tain other  enterprises  obtain  their  licenses  from  the  police 
department ;  concert  halls,  theaters,  circuses,  besides  certain 
kinds  of  street  parades,  must  be  licensed  there.  These 
licenses  bring  a  large  revenue  into  the  municipal  treasury. 

Two  other  important  bureaus,  but  which  are  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  borough  presidents,  are  the  Bureau  of 
Highways  and  the  Bureau  of  Sewers.  These  regulate  the 
grading,  curbing,  flagging,  guttering,  and  all  matters  per- 
taining to  the  sewerage  of  the  streets  in  the  respective 
boroughs.  There  is  also  a  Bureau  of  Public  Buildings  and 
Offices,  which  has  the  care  and  maintenance  of  all  the 


FIG.  43.   The  Flatiron  Building 


72      GOVERNMENT   OF  THE  CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 

municipal  buildings ;  a  Bureau  of  Buildings,  which,  in  con- 
nection with  the  Tenement  House  Department,  enforces 
the  regulations  of  the  city  in  regard  to  the  erection  of  new 
buildings  ;  and  the  Board  of  Building  Examiners,  which 
hears  all  appeals  from  the  Bureau  of  Buildings.  Besides 
these  there  is  the  Board  of  Elections,  of  which  we  learned 
in  the  chapter  on  elections ;  a  Board  of  City  Record,  which 
publishes  the  municipal  organ,  the  City  Record ;  and  a 
Municipal  Explosive  Commission,  which  decides  who  may 
handle  explosives.  With  these  there  is  a  Bureau  of  Baths 
and  Public  Comfort  in  each  borough,  under  the  supervi- 
sion of  the  borough  presidents;  also  the  Examining  Board 
of  Plumbers,  Sealers  of  Weights  and  Measures  and  the 
Inspectors  of  Weights  and  Measures,  and  the  Board  of 
Armory  Commissioners.  In  addition  to  these  there  are  a 
number  of  others  of  lesser  importance. 

Summary.  The  municipality  of  the  corporation  of  New  York  is 
too  large  to  be  administered  by  one  man,  as  is  shown  by  a  short  study 
of  the  city's  area,  population,  and  wealth.  The  executive  branch  of 
the  city  government  includes  the  mayor,  the  borough  presidents,  and 
the  heads  of  the  fifteen  administrative  departments,  besides  certain 
executive  boards,  the  most  important  of  which  is  the  Board  of  Esti- 
mate and  Apportionment. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  BOROUGH  PRESIDENTS 

The  Formation  of  the  Boroughs.  At  the  time  when  the 
first  ferry  was  established  between  "  Breuckelen  "  and  New 
Amsterdam  the  wayfarer  who  wanted  to  cross  the  East  River 
had  to  let  his  desire  be  known  by  blowing  a  horn  which 


FIG.  44.    "Wayfarer  blowing  a  Horn  as  a  Call  to  be  taken 
across  the  East  River 

hung  on  a  convenient  tree  near  the  ferry  landing.  This 
brought  the  master  of  the  ferryboat,  who  for  six  stivers  will- 
ingly rowed  him  over  the  river,  but  who  utilized  the  time 
while  trade  was  dull  by  tilling  his  near-by  fields.  Little  did 
those  simple-minded  folk  dream  that  the  day  would  come 

73 


74      GOVERNMENT   OF  THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 

when  not  only  Brooklyn  but  Staten  Island,  away  over  on 
the  other  side  of  the  bay,  and  the  region  far  out  beyond  the 
Bloomingdale  road  would  become  a  part  of  the  one  great  city. 
It  took  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  to  accom- 
plish this,  but  in  course  of  those  years  New  York  grew  so 
large  that  its  merchants  and  business  men  lived  in  all  the 
outlying  towns  and  districts  ;  and  their  interests  made  the 
consolidation  of  the  city  a  necessity. 

The  Borough  Presidents.  When  the  territory  embraced 
in  Greater  New  York  was  united  for  administrative  pur- 
poses it  was  formed  into  five  boroughs.  Each  of  the  cities 
in  the  district  thus  united  had  formerly  been  governed  by 
an  individual  mayor  and  other  local  officers.  In  the  consoli- 
dation they  all  came  under  one  charter  and  one  mayor,  but 
each  borough  was  placed  under  the  immediate  supervision  of 
an  executive  officer,  called  a  borough  president,  and  a  local 
government  was  established  in  connection  with  the  general 
municipal  government.  Each  of  these  presidents  is  chosen 
by  the  voters  of  the  respective  boroughs  at  the  time  when 
the  mayor  of  the  city  is  elected,  and  for  the  same  term.  The 
charter  defines  his  duties  just  as  it  does  those  of  the  mayor. 
It  stipulates  that  his  home  must  be  in  the  borough  at  the 
time  he  is  elected,  and  that  he  must  live  there  during  his  term 
of  office.  The  presidents  of  the  boroughs  of  Manhattan, 
The  Bronx,  and  of  Brooklyn  each  receive  a  salary  of  seven 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars  per  year ;  while  the  presi- 
dents of  Queens  and  of  Richmond  each  receive  five  thousand 
dollars.  Like  the  mayor  of  the  city,  the  presidents  of  the 
boroughs  can  be  removed  only  by  the  governor  of  the  state. 

Powers  and  Duties.  The  president  of  the  borough  by 
virtue  of  his  office  is  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen 


75 


76      GOVERNMENT   OF  THE  CITY  OF    NEW  YORK 

and  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment.  As  mem- 
bers of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  the  borough  presidents  have 
legislative  powers,  for  they  thus  help  to  make  the  laws  of  the 
city.  They  attend  the  meetings  of  that  board  and  vote  on  all 
questions  brought  before  it.  In  this  way  they  not  only  are 
responsible  for  the  government  of  their  own  boroughs  but 
must  share  in  that  of  the  whole  city.  Their  duties  as  presi- 
dents of  the  boroughs  are  similar  to  those  of  the  mayor.  A 
borough  hall  is  selected  by  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  in  the 
central  part  of  each  borough,  and  in  it  the  borough  president 
has  a  public  office  where  the  meetings  of  the  various  local 
boards  are  held,  and  where  he  conducts  all  business  con- 
nected with  his  borough.  He  is  chairman  ex  officio  of 
these  boards  and  calls  and  presides  at  their  meetings.  He 
may  vote  upon  any  measure  brought  before  them,  and  also 
has  the  veto  over  any  action  of  the  boards.  He  regulates 
the  grading,  curbing,  and  repairing  of  the  streets  and  the 
laying  of  the  cross  walks,  and  has  the  care  of  the  sewers  ; 
he  attends  to  building  repairing  and  the  maintenance  of  pub- 
lic roads,  bridges,  and  tunnels  within  his  borough  ;  subject 
to  the  approval  of  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportion- 
ment, he  executes  all  plans  for  the  drainage  of  the  sewers  in 
his  district.  He  has  the  control  of  public  buildings,  except 
schools,  hospitals,  fire  and  police  stations,  and  penitentiaries. 
Through  the  superintendent  of  buildings  of  the  borough,  he 
has  the  supervision  of  the  erection  of  all  buildings  except 
those  which  are  directly  vested  in  the  Tenement  House  De- 
partment. He  prepares  all  contracts  relating  to  the  borough 
and  makes  an  annual  report  of  all  its  business  transactions 
to  the  mayor.  In  addition  to  these  things  the  presidents  of 
Richmond  and  Queens  have  charge  of  the  street  cleaning. 


THE  BOROUGH   PRESIDENTS 


77 


Appointing  Power.  The  president  of  the  borough  appoints 
a  commissioner  of  public  works,  and  when  it  is  necessary 
has  the  power  to  remove  him.  The  commissioner  is  the 
officer  of  the  borough 
next  in  importance 
to  the  president.  In 
the  absence  or  illness 
of  the  president  the 
commissioner  of  pub- 
lic works  discharges 
all  his  duties  for  him. 
The  president  also 
appoints,  subject  to 
civil  service  law,  a 
secretary  of  the  bor- 
ough and  such  as- 
sistant clerks  as  are 
necessary.  Besides 
these  he  appoints  the 
members  of  the  local 
school  boards  and  a 
superintendent  of 
buildings,  who  is  the 
head  of  the  Bureau 
of  Buildings  of  the 


FIG.  46.    Tower  and  Southwest  Wing 
of  the  Wadleigh  High  School 


borough.  The  superintendent  of  buildings  must  see  that 
all  laws  and  ordinances  relating  to  the  construction,  altera- 
tion, or  removal  of  buildings  are  enforced. 

Should  the  president  of  a  borough,  during  his  term  of 
office,  die,  move  away,  or  do  anything  which  causes  disgrace 
to  the  borough,  his  office  can  be  declared  vacant.  Then  the 


THE   BOROUGH   PRESIDENTS  79 

mayor  calls  a  meeting,  over  which  he  himself  must  preside, 
of  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  who  live  in  that 
borough,  and  they  must  elect  some  one  else  in  his  place. 
The  mayor  does  not  vote  at  this  meeting  unless  there  is  a 
tie,  making  it  necessary  for  him  to  decide  the  election. 

The  Local  Improvement  Boards.  There  are  twenty-five 
local  boards  of  improvement  in  the  different  boroughs  of 
New  York  City.  They  consist  of  the  respective  presidents 
of  the  boroughs,  as  chairmen,  and  the  aldermen  residing 
in  the  respective  districts.  In  their  own  boroughs  the  local 
boards  have  the  power  to  grade,  pave,  and  improve  the 
streets  ;  to  construct  sewers,  tunnels,  and  bridges  ;  and  to 
acquire  titles  to  land  for  parks  and  other  public  purposes. 
There  are  the  following  limitations.  If  the  improvement 
does  not  cost  over  two  thousand  dollars,  the  local  board 
passes  on  it  independently  ;  if  more  than  that  sum  is  to 
be  expended,  the  resolution  of  the  improvement  must  be 
approved  by  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment ;  and 
if  it  involves  an  outlay  of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  or 
more,  which  is  to  come  from  the  public  treasury,  it  must 
have  the  approval  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen.  But  before 
any  resolution  of  the  local  board  can  take  effect  it  must  be 
approved  by  the  president  of  the  borough. 

The  Necessity  of  a  Borough  President.  It  is  necessary 
for  each  borough  to  have  a  president  because  the  population 
varies  in  the  different  boroughs.  Ordinances  that  are  per- 
fectly just  and  proper  for  one  borough  are  wholly  unneces- 
sary in  another.  Improvements  which  are  desirable  in  one 
locality,  and  for  which  the  people  are  glad  to  pay,  should 
not  be  made  to  wait  until  all  the  boroughs  appreciate  the 
need  and  are  willing  to  vote  for  it. 


80      GOVERNMENT   OF  THE  CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 

Summary.  When  the  first  ferry  was  established  between  New 
York  City  and  Brooklyn  there  was  little  to  suggest  that  the  two  cities 
would  ever  be  united  ;  yet  business  became  centered  in  New  York  City 
and  the  consolidation  of  the  surrounding  territories  followed.  The 
municipality  is  divided  into  five  boroughs  ;  each  has  a  local  govern- 
ment connected  with  the  general  government  of  the  city,  with  a  borough 
president  at  its  head.  Each  borough  president  is  elected  by  the  voters 
of  the  respective  boroughs,  at  the  time  when  the  mayor  of  the  city  is 
chosen  and  for  the  same  length  of  term.  By  virtue  of  his  office  he  is 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  and  the  Board  of  Estimate  and 
Apportionment.  He  votes  on  questions  brought  before  these  boards, 
and  thus  is  not  only  responsible  for  the  government  of  his  own  bor- 
ough but  must  share  in  that  of  the  whole  city.  He  appoints  a  com- 
missioner of  public  works,  a  number  of  other  borough  officials, 
besides  the  members  of  the  local  school  board  and  a  superintendent 
of  buildings.  He  is  chairman  of  all  local  boards  in  his  borough. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE   DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION 

A  Glance  at  the  Early  History  of  the  Schools  of  New  York 
City.  When  Wouter  Van  Twiller,  fourth  direcktor  of  New 
Netherland,  came  to  the  province  from  Holland,  in  1633, 
he  brought  the  first  schoolmaster,  Adam  Roelantsen,  to 
take  charge  of  the  little  school  which,  even  at  that  early 
date,  had  been  established  for  the  few  children  of  the  col- 
ony. Schoolmaster  Roelantsen  was  a  salaried  officer  of  the 
West  India  Company,  and  the  tuition  was  free  in  the  little 
school.  He  lived  on  "The  Road  to  the  Ferry,"  but  he  did 
not  remain  pedagogue  long,  as  he  soon  became  involved  in 
some  trouble  which  caused  his  dismissal,  and  the  next  we 
hear  of  him  he  was  eking  out  his  livelihood  by  taking  in  wash- 
ings. That  must  have  been  a  temporary  occupation  with 
him,  however,  for  it  is  recorded  that  in  1653  ne  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  burgher  corps  of  New  Amsterdam. 

A  year  or  more  after  Roelantsen's  dismissal  the  sec- 
ond schoolmaster  came  from  Holland.  His  pay  consisted  of 
two  beaver  skins  annually  for  each  pupil.  By  this  time 
the  little  hamlet  had  taken  on  quite  the  air  of  a  village. 
The  fort  was  still  the  center  of  activity;  the  direcktor's 
blockhouse  and  the  church  were  near  each  other  within  its 
quadrangular  wall,  while  on  the  other  side  of  them  was  the 
one-storied  prison ;  below  it  on  the  river  bank  stood  the  gal- 
lows and  whipping  post,  —  grim  reminders  of  the  severity  of 
the  times.  A  huge  windmill,  so  dear  to  the  Dutch  eyes, 

81 


82       GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

also  stood  within  the  fort,  and  beyond  it  a  tall  flagstaff, 
with  flying  colors  in  horizontal  stripes  of  white,  blue,  and 
orange,  could  be  seen  far  out  at  sea.  The  Dutch  House 
of  Entertainment  "  adorned  the  fartherest  point  of  land," 
and  between  it  and  the  fort  were  "  suitable  dwelling  houses," 
among  which  stood  the  West  India  Company's  warehouses. 
North  of  the  little  village,  but  south  of  where  Wall  Street 
is  now,  stretched  the  almost  unbroken  primeval  forest,  its 


FIG.  48.    "  The  fort  was  still  the  center  of  activity  " 

solitude  shared  by  the  red  man  with  the  bears,  panthers, 
and  wolves,  whose  loud  yelps  and  growls  nightly  filled  the 
children's  hearts  with  terror.  There  was  no  schoolhouse  in 
those  days,  but  school  was  held  in  a  hired  room  or  in  the 
schoolmaster's  house.  The  schoolmaster  was  revered  next 
to  the  minister,  and  every  self-respecting  citizen  who  was 
able  sent  his  children  to  school.  The  first  record  of  a 
school  tax  in  the  little  colony  was  in  1638. 

Schools  during  English  Occupancy  of  the  Island.    When 
the  English  took  possession  of  New  Amsterdam,  in  1664, 


THE   DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION  83 

there  were  three  common  schools,  a  Latin  grammar  school 
supported  by  tax  and  tuition  fees,  and  ten  or  twelve  private 
schools.  The  English  did  not  do  so  much  for  education,  in 
proportion  to  their  opportunities,  as  the  Dutch  had  done. 
They  tried  to  substitute  academies  and  other  pay  institu- 
tions for  the  common  schools.  For  this  reason  free  schools 
made  but  little  progress  until  after  the  Revolution.  In  1702 
the  assembly  adopted  An  Act  for  the  Encouragement  of 


FIG.  49.    Leffert's  House,  Flatbush 

a  Grammar  Free  School  in  New  York  City,  and  the  school- 
master's salary  of  fifty  pounds  was  raised  by  a  general  tax. 
Only  children  whose  parents  were  members  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  could  attend  this  school. 

The  Establishment  of  the  Present  School  System.  Public 
schools,  in  the  sense  in  which  we  now  use  the  term,  were 
unknown  even  for  a  good  many  years  after  the  Revolution. 
It  is  an  interesting  bit  of  history  that  the  first  free  public 
school  in  New  York  City  was  established  for  colored  children. 
Under  the  auspices  of  an  organization  called  the  Manumission 
Society,  a  free  school  for  colored  children  was  opened  in 


84       GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

1787,  and  this  society  maintained  a  number  of  such  schools 
for  a  good  many  years.  Up  to  this  time  the  churches  had 
supported  parish  schools  for  the  children  of  their  members, 

but  the  children 
of  poor  white 
parents  who 
were  not  church 
members  had  no 
schools  provided 
for  them.  This 
led  some  kind- 
hearted  people, 
in  1 80 1,  to  start 
a  society,  The 
Association  of 
the  Women 
Friends  for  the 
Relief  of  the 
Poor,  which  es- 
tablished and  for 
more  than  forty 

FlG.  50.    Colonel  De  Witt  Clinton,  a  Patriotic  Citizen  ...       , 

and  the  First  President  of  the  Free  School  Society      * 

schools  for  that 

class  of  children.  In  1805  a  society  was  organized  which 
eventually  resulted  in  our  present  public  school  system.  It 
was  The  Free  School  Society,  and  that  broad-minded,  philan- 
thropic citizen  who  did  so  much  for  New  York  in  its  early 
history,  and  who  at  this  time  was  mayor  of  the  city,  Colonel 
De  Witt  Clinton,  was  the  first  president  of  the  society.  It 
was  organized  "to  extend  the  benefits  of  education  to  the 
numerous  class  of  poor  children  who  were  excluded  from 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION      85 

the  various  charity  schools  already  established."  The  good 
accomplished  by  this  organization  can  scarcely  be  estimated. 
In  May,  1806,  the  society  opened  its  first  school  in  "a 
small  apartment "  in  Bancker  (now  Madison)  Street,  with 
forty-two  scholars.  It  soon  outgrew  its  accommodations 
there,  and  in  April  of  the  next  year  the  city  allowed  the 
school  to  use  "the  building  adjacent  to  the  almshouse." 
This  building  had  room  for  two  hundred  and  forty  pupils, 
and  it  was  not  long  before  it  was  overcrowded.  In  1808 
the  city  gave  the  ground,  and  a  brick  schoolhouse  was 
begun  which,  when  finished  in  1809,  was  considered  very 


FIG.  51.    Public  School  No.  137,  Brooklyn 

large  and  handsome,  as  it  could  seat  more  than  five  hundred 
pupils  in  its  two  rooms.  Colonel  Rutgers,  another  generous 
citizen,  gave  two  lots  on  Henry  Street,  and  the  city  raised 
thirteen  thousand  dollars  for  the  next  school  building.  This 


86      GOVERNMENT   OF   THE   CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 

was  completed  in  1 8 1 1 ,  and  the  second  free  school  building 
was  opened.  Other  schools  followed  until,  by  1825,  there 
were  six  free  schools  in  the  city.  In  1826  the  Free  School 
Society  obtained  a  new  charter  and  changed  its  name  to 
The  Public  School  Society  of  New  York,  —  a  change  of 
name  which,  as  the  Honorable  Seth  Low  says  in  his  intro- 
duction to  Mr.  Palmer's  admirable  work,  The  New  York 
Public  School,  "marked  a  great  advance  in  the  general 
understanding  of  the  obligations  of  the  community  towards 
popular  education." 

Since  that  time  there  have  been  great  changes.  Then 
the  city  was  proud  of  six  public  schools ;  now  it  has  almost 
a  hundred  times  that  number.  Then  there  were  perhaps  five 
thousand  pupils ;  now  there  are  six  hundred  thousand,  with 
the  number  constantly  increasing.  This  wonderful  record 
is  due  to  two  things,  —  the  growth  in  population  of  the  city 
and  the  generous  educational  policy  of  the  corporation. 

Educational  Advantages  of  New  York  City.  Besides  its 
public  schools  the  city  has  almost  unequaled  educational 
advantages.  Within  its  five  boroughs  there  are  more  than 
three  hundred  colleges,  academies,  and  private  schools  where 
students  may  be  instructed  in  almost  any  branch.  In  con- 
nection with  its  higher  institutions  of  learning  the  state  has 
a  system  of  supervision  which  is  of  great  advantage.  It  is 
conducted  by  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

The  University  of  the  State  of  New  York.  This  institu- 
tion is  the  most  powerful  educational  influence  in  the  state, 
and  yet,  strange  as  the  statement  may  seem  to  the  pupil, 
it  is  a  university  without  teachers  or  buildings.  But  this 
does  not  lessen  its  useful  influence,  for  what  is  termed  the 
University  of  the  State  of  New  York  is  fundamentally  a 


THE   DEPARTMENT   OF  EDUCATION 


supervisory  body.  It  was  established  by  the  legislature  in 
1784  and  includes  all  the  incorporated  colleges  and  acade- 
mies of  the  state.  It  is  governed  by  a  Board  of  Regents 
numbering  about  eleven  persons,  with  four  ex-officio  mem- 
bers,—  the  governor, 


the  lieutenant  gov- 
ernor, the  secretary  of 
state,  and  the  state 
commissioner  of  educa- 
tion. The  regents  have 
a  general  supervision  of 
higher  education  in  the 
state. 

Columbia  University. 
Columbia  University, 
on  Morningside 
Heights,  founded  as 
King's  College  in  1 784, 
is  the  oldest  college  in 
the  Empire  State.  With 
its  magnificent  equip- 
ment, scholarly  in- 
structors, and  valuable 
library,  it  offers  advan- 
tages which  were  not 
dreamed  of  when  it  was 
founded.  It  comprises  nearly  a  dozen  stately  buildings.  There 
are  more  than  five  hundred  instructors  in  its  nine  departments. 
Its  three  hundred  and  thirty-six  scholarships  and  fellowships 
offer  generous  opportunities  to  students  with  limited  means. 
The  university  —  Columbia  College,  Teachers  College,  and 


J 


FIG.  52.    St.  Patrick's  Cathedral 


88      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 

Barnard  College  —  includes  schools  of  applied  sciences,  law, 
medicine,  philosophy,  political  science,  and  pure  science. 

The  New  York  University,  formerly  called  the  Univer- 
sity of  the  City  of  New  York,  also  affords  many  opportuni- 
ties for  students.  The  buildings  in  which  its  college  and 
college -extension  departments  are  conducted  are  on  Uni- 
versity Heights,  as  well  as  those  of  the  graduate  school 
and  school  of  applied  sciences.  The  library  building,  Hall 


FIG.  53.    Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art 

of  Languages,  chemical  laboratory,  and  other  edifices  be- 
longing to  the  university  are  also  on  the  Heights.  The 
medical  college  is  on  Twenty-sixth  Street,  in  connection 
with  Bellevue  Hospital.  It  has  fine  lecture  and  dissecting 
rooms,  and  there  is  also  a  veterinary  college  as  one  of  its 
branches.  The  schools  of  law,  pedagogy,  and  commerce 
are  in  the  university  building  on  Washington  Square. 

The  opportunities  for  higher  education  in  the  city  are 
by  no  means  limited  to  these  universities.    The  Brooklyn 


THE   DEPARTMENT   OF  EDUCATION  89 

Polytechnic,  Pratt  Institute,  The  Brooklyn  Institute  of 
Arts  and  Sciences,  and  several  other  kindred  institutions 
have  made  Brooklyn  famous  as  a  technical  training  center. 
The  American  Museum  of  Natural  History  in  Manhattan, 
with  its  wonderful  collection  of  works  of  art,  and  its  lec- 
ture courses,  provides  an  avenue  for  the  broad  education  of 
the  people,  as  do  also  the  New  York  School  of  Design 
and  the  New  York  School  of  Art.  Besides  the  schools 
of  this  class  there  are  many  sectarian  ones  of  all  grades, 
notable  among  which  are  the  parochial  schools. 

The  College  of  the  City  of  New  York.  But  the  institutions 
for  higher  education  which  are  of  greatest  benefit  to  the 
young  people  of  the  city  are  the  College  of  the  City  of  New 
York  and  the  Normal  College.  The  College  of  the  City  of 
New  York  developed  from  a  school  for  higher  education 
called  the  Free  Academy,  which  was  established  by  the 
state  legislature  in  1847.  The  building  for  the  Free  Acad- 
emy, on  the  southeast  corner  of  Lexington  Avenue  and 
Twenty-third  Street,  was  opened  in  1 849.  Collegiate  powers 
and  privileges  were  granted  to  the  academy  by  the  state 
legislature  in  1854.  It  was  thus  enabled  to  confer  upon  its 
graduates  the  usual  degrees  in  the  arts  and  sciences.  In 
1866  the  legislature  made  the  academy  the  College  of  the 
City  of  New  York,  and  the  Board  of  Education  became 
the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  college.  In  1900  the  legis- 
lature removed  the  college  from  the  control  of  the  Board 
of  Education  and  placed  it  under  a  Board  of  Trustees 
consisting  of  nine  members  appointed  by  the  mayor. 

The  full  course  of  study  in  the  college  includes  three 
years  of  preparatory  work  and  four  years  of  collegiate  work. 
In  the  collegiate  department  five  courses  of  study  may  be 


90      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 

pursued,  and  every  advantage  of  college  education  is  avail- 
able. There  are  forty  instructors  and  about  seventy  tutors 
in  the  college.  Any  male  residing  in  the  City  of  New  York, 
who  passes  the  prescribed  entrance  examination,  will  be 
admitted  to  it.  The  new  buildings  on  St.  Nicholas  Heights 
are  an  ornament  to  the  architecture  of  the  city,  and  are 
splendidly  equipped. 

The  Normal  College.  In  the  same  year  in  which  the  Free 
Academy  was  opened  for  boys,  a  committee  of  citizens 
was  appointed  to  inquire  "  into  the  propriety  and  expedi- 
ency of  establishing  a  Female  Free  Academy.  For  more 
than  twenty  years,  however,  the  only  school  which  answered 
in  any  way  to  one  of  this  kind  was  a  Saturday  normal 


FIG.  54.    The  Normal  College 

school  for  women,  and  it  existed  only  a  part  of  that  period. 
In  1869  the  Board  of  Education  established  a  Daily  Female 
Normal  and  High  School.  It  was  opened  in  a  rented  build- 
ing on  the  southeast  corner  of  Broadway  and  Fourth  Street 


THE   DEPARTMENT   OF  EDUCATION 


in  1870.  It  was  well  patronized  and  the  following  year  it 
became  the  Normal  College.  A  building  was  completed  for 
the  college  in  1874,  on  Hamilton  Square  and  Park  and  Lex- 
ington avenues.  At  first  the  course  of  study  extended  only 
over  three  years ;  this 
was  subsequently 
raised  to  four  and 
then  to  five  years,  but 
as  the  degrees  granted 
by  the  college  were 
not  recognized  by  the 
Regents  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  the  State  of 
New  York,  a  collegi- 
ate course  occupying 
seven  years  was  estab- 
lished in  1902.  The 
next  year  the  Normal 
College  High  School  was  made  a  separate  department  and 
was  admitted  to  the  university  of  the  state  as  a  regular 
high  school. 

Educational  Societies.  There  are  many  religious  and  phil- 
anthropic organizations  carrying  on  educational  work  in 
New  York  City.  Cooper  Institute  has  branches  for  mental 
and  spiritual  culture,  besides  a  well-equipped  library.  The 
University  Extension  Society  sends  lecturers  to  settlements 
and  other  centers.  The  Tombs  School  is  for  boy  prisoners 
and  is  maintained  by  the  Public  Educational  Association. 
The  People's  Institute  has  numerous  classes  and  lecture 
courses  in  which  is  taught  the  brotherhood  of  man.  The 
League  for  Political  Education  provides  for  classes  and 


FIG.  55.    The  Cooper  Institute 


92      GOVERNMENT   OF  THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 

lectures  on  social,  industrial,  literary,  and  civic  subjects.  The 
City  History  Club  and  the  Juvenile  Citizens'  League  arouse 
in  their  boy  and  girl  members  interest  and  pride  in  the  city's 
history  and  welfare.  The  Educational  Alliance  helps  trans- 
form the  constantly  arriving  immigrants  into  loyal  Ameri- 
cans. The  New  York  Kindergarten  Association  looks  after 
little  folks  who  otherwise  would  not  go  to  school. 

The  Library  System  of  the  City.    Then  there  is  New 
York  City's  wonderful  library  system,  which  is  almost  as 


FIG.  56.    The  Low  Memorial  Library  of  Columbia  University 

great  an  educational  medium  as  the  schools  themselves. 
The  first  library  which  could  have  been  called  a  public 
library  was  established  early  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
although  many  years  before  two  clergymen  willed  their 
books  to  the  growing  young  town  and  these  volumes  were 
kept  for  general  circulation.  Many  small  libraries  came 
into  existence  during  the  first  half  of  the  century,  but  the 
Astor  family  gave  the  first  public  library  of  importance. 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION 


93 


When  John  Jacob  Astor  died  in  1 848  he  left  four  hundred 
thousand  dollars  for  this  purpose.  His  son,  William  B.  Astor, 
gave  five  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars ;  and  his  grand- 
son during  his  lifetime,  and  by  will  after  his  death,  gave 
seven  hundred  thousand  dollars  more  towards  its  mainte- 
nance. The  Astor  library  building  was  erected  in  Lafayette 
Place  and  was  the  first  public  library  building  of  the  city. 
James  Lenox  established  the  second  public  library.  He 
donated  ground  in  Seventieth  Street,  erected  the  handsome 


FIG.  57.    The  Morris  High  School  in  The  Bronx 

building  there,  furnished  it  at  an  expense  of  over  one 
million  dollars,  and  endowed  it  with  a  permanent  fund  of 
nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  Besides 
many  books  it  has  a  valuable  collection  of  paintings  and 
other  art  treasures. 

Samuel  J.  Tilden  provided  by  his  will  for  still  another 
library,  and  the  city  soon  after  his  death  decided  to  con- 
solidate the  Astor  and  Lenox  libraries  with  the  Tilden 


94      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 

library  trust  fund.  The  building  for  this  great  library  is 
on  Fifth  Avenue  between  Fortieth  and  Forty-second 
streets,  where  one  of  the  first  reservoirs  of  the  Croton 
Aqueduct  stood.  It  is  one  of  the  finest  buildings  in  the 
world,  and  when  finished  will  have  a  shelving  capacity  of 
over  a  million  volumes.  In  1901  Andrew  Carnegie  gave 
five  million  dollars  to  establish  branch  libraries,  on  con- 
dition that  the  city  provide  the  sites  for  the  necessary 
buildings.  The  corporation  accepted  the  proposition  and 
seventy-five  or  eighty  of  the  Carnegie  libraries  are  scat- 
tered throughout  the  five  boroughs. 

Summary.  In  the  early  days  of  the  colony  the  Dutch  established 
a  school  at  Fort  Amsterdam,  and  before  the  English  invasion  they 
had  several  others  in  operation.  The  English  did  not  encourage  free 
schools,  but  substituted  academies  and  other  pay  institutions,  of 
which  there  are  now  over  three  hundred.  After  the  Revolution  the 
Free  School  Society  and  the  Public  School  Society  gave  impetus  to 
public  instruction  by  interesting  the  city  and  individuals  in  it.  This 
was  the  beginning  of  the  present  school  system.  There  are  numerous 
organizations  and  institutions  which  offer  educational  advantages  in 
New  York  City.  In  connection  with  these  its  library  system  plays  an 
important  part. 


CHAPTER  IX 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION  (continued} 

The  Organization  of  the  Board  of  Education.  The  educa- 
tional advantages  of  the  City  of  New  York  are  indeed  unsur- 
passed, and,  as  we  learned  in  the  last  chapter,  are  almost 
innumerable.  But  far 
above  all  others,  for 
boys  and  girls, are  the 
magnificent  public 
schools.  Under  the 
Free  School  Society 
and  the  Public  School 
Society,  New  York 
City  had  common 
schools  for  many 
years  before  it  had  a 
Board  of  Education. 
These  philanthropic 
societies,  and  particu- 
larly the  latter  one, 
laid  the  foundation 
upon  which  our  splen- 
did public  school  sys- 
tem has  been  built. 
In  1813  the  legislature  of  the  state  made  an  enactment 
giving  to  these  two  societies  and  certain  religious  bodies 
that  share  of  the  state's  funds  apportioned  to  the  City  of 

95 


FIG.  58.    Building  of  the  Board  of  Education 


96      GOVERNMENT   OF  THE  CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 

New  York.  The  enactment  provided  that  the  funds  thus 
given  should  be  used  for  the  free  schools  of  the  city.  In 
1829  the  state  laid  a  tax  on  all  city  property  for  school 
purposes,  and  this  money  also  was  intrusted  to  the  same 
organizations ;  but  in  1 842  the  legislature  made  a  law 
authorizing  the  election  of  two  commissioners  from  each 
ward  in  New  York  City,  to  constitute  a  Board  of  Educa- 
tion and  to  act  with  these  societies  in  establishing  and 
maintaining  the  free  schools  of  the  city.  This  plan  con- 
tinued until  1851,  when,  by  another  act  of  the  legislature, 
all  of  the  common  schools  of  the  city  were  placed  under 
the  care  of  the  board.  The  Free  School  Society  continued 
its  schools  for  some  little  time  afterward,  but  in  1853  it 
transferred  its  rights  and  property  to  the  city.  Since  that 
time  the  schools  have  been  in  charge  of  the  board,  and  since 
1869 ''the  members  have  been  appointed  by  the  mayor. 

The  Board  of  Education.  Until  the  five  boroughs  were 
united  under  the  present  charter  each  town  and  city  in  the 
territory  comprised  in  Greater  New  York  had  an  inde- 
pendent school  government.  There  is  now  one  central 
Board  of  Education  of  forty-six  members,  and  each  bor- 
ough is  represented  in  its  membership.  The  members  of 
the  board  are  appointed  by  the  mayor  for  a  term  of  five 
years  and  serve  without  salary.  About  nine  of  the  members 
are  appointed  annually.  The  board  as  a  whole  meets  semi- 
monthly. Each  February  it  elects  a  president  for  the  year. 
The  city  charter  authorizes  the  appointment  of  a  secretary 
to  the  board,  the  city  superintendent  of  schools,  eight 
associate  superintendents,  the  superintendent  of  school  build- 
ings, and  the  superintendent  of  school  supplies.  The  work 
of  the  board  is  divided  among  thirteen  committees,  the  most 


THE   DEPARTMENT  OF  -EDUCATION 


97 


important  of  which  is  the  Executive  Committee.  The  presi- 
dent of  the  board  is  chairman  ex  officio  of  this  committee, 
and  each  borough  is  represented  by  one  or  more  members. 
Powers  and  Duties.  The  Board  of  Education  is  a  corpo- 
ration, and  may  own,  lease,  or  sell  property.  It  represents 
the  school  interests  before  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Appor- 
tionment. It  establishes  all  public  schools,  not  only  those 


FIG.  59.    Public  School  No.  153,  Andrews  and  Burnside  Avenues 

for  pupils  but  also  the  training  schools  for  teachers  ;  it  pro- 
vides the  free  lecture  courses  and  the  recreation  centers. 
It  appoints  all  teachers,  who  can  be  removed  only  upon 
charges  preferred  and  sustained  by  the  board.  It  acts  as 
the  Board  of  Trustees  for  the  Normal  College. 

The  Local  School  Boards.  The  charter  provides  for  local 
school  boards,  one  in  each  of  the  school  districts  of  the  city. 
The  presidents  of  the  boroughs  in  which  these  districts  are 
located  appoint  five  citizens  as  members  of  the  respective 


98      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

local  boards.  These  persons  hold  office  for  one,  two,  three, 
four,  or  five  years,  as  the  case  may  be.  The  president  of 
the  Board  of  Education  appoints  a  member  of  that  body 


FIG.  60.    A  Public  Playground 

to  act  on  a  local  board  in  the  borough  in  which  he  resides. 
The  city  superintendent  assigns  each  district  superintend- 
ent to  two  districts,  and  he  becomes  a  member  for  the  two 
districts  on  the  local  board.  These  seven  persons  consti- 
tute the  local  board. 

The  Superintendent  of  School  Buildings.  No  other  munici- 
pality in  the  country  has  so  many  or  such  fine  school 
buildings  as  New  York  City.  The  city  appropriates  the 
money  to  build  them,  and  the  charter  provides  for  the 
appointment  of  a  superintendent  of  school  buildings  under 
whose  supervision  they  are  constructed.  The  position  is  an 
important  one,  as  the  man  who  holds  it  is  responsible  for 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION 


99 


the  safety  and  comfort  of  the  teachers  and  the  pupils.  The 
charter  declares  that  he  must  be  an  architect  of  recognized 
ability,  must  take  the  oath  of  office  ordered  by  the  state,  and 
must  give  securities  to  the  Board  of  Education  for  faithful 
service.  He  appoints  deputy  superintendents  of  buildings, 
advertises  for  bids  and  designs,  and  superintends  the  erec- 
tion of  new  schoolhouses  or  the  alteration  of  old  ones.  He 
is  the  executive  officer  of  the  board  in  respect  to  all  mat- 
ters relating  to  the  Building  Bureau. 

The  school  population  of  New  York  City  has  increased 
so  rapidly  that  it  has  been  impossible  to  house  all  children 
of  school  age.  In  1904,  when  there  was  an  enrollment  of 
six  hundred  thousand  pupils,  there  were  eighty  thousand 
who,  from  lack  of  seating  room,  could  attend  only  a  part  of 
the  time.  Yet  in  that  year  alone  the  city  spent  more  than 
six  million  dollars  for  new  school  buildings,  and  every  year 
more  are  being  erected.  They  are  needed  most,  of  course, 


FIG.  61.    Children  at  Play  in  a  Schoolhouse  Court 

in  the  neighborhoods  where  there  are  the  most  people,  and 
the  fact  that  the  property  in  those  localities  is  very  expen- 
sive does  not  prevent  the  city  from  purchasing  it.  Any 
city  might  well  be  proud  of  these  school  buildings.  The 


100   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

appliances  for  heat,  light,  and  ventilation  are  as  nearly  perfect 
as  science  can  make  them.  The  schoolrooms  are  equipped 
with  all  modern  accessories  of  teaching.  In  some  of  the 
buildings  there  are  gymnasiums,  cooking  rooms,  and  work- 
shops, as  well  as  large  audience  rooms  where  lectures  and 
school  exercises  are  given  ;  many  of  them  are  supplied  with 
inclosed  roof  gardens,  while  in  others  the  entire  basement 


FIG.  62.    Public  School  No.  175,  The  Bronx 

floors  are  reserved  for  playgrounds.  Whenever  possible 
the  new  buildings  open  on  all  sides  to  the  light,  with  one  or 
more  courts  in  the  center. 

In  Hester  Street,  lower  Manhattan,  a  new  schoolhouse 
called  the  Hester  Street  School,  costing  with  the  site  upon 
which  it  stands  over  one  million  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  was  recently  erected.  It  is  the  largest  public  school 
building  in  the  world  ;  it  seats  four  thousand  five  hundred 
pupils,  and  yet  before  it  was  completed  more  than  that  number 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION 


IOI 


had  applied  for  admission.  When  these  palatial  buildings  are 
compared  to  that  first  little  two-roomed,  free  school  building, 
dedicated  with  so  much  pride  in  1809,  we  can  realize  what 
strides  New  York  City  has  made  in  its  school  system. 

The  Superintendent  of  School  Supplies.  The  city  supplies 
the  public  schools  with  everything  needed.  The  charter 
of  1901  reads  :  "The  Board  of  Education  shall  provide  for 
the  purchase  of  all  books,  apparatus,  stationery,  and  other 
things  necessary  and  expedient  to  enable  the  schools  of  the 


FIG.  63.    A  Class  receiving  Instruction  in  First  Aid  to  the  Injured 


city  to  be  properly  and  successfully  conducted."  To  secure 
these  things  it  provides  for  the  appointment  of  a  superin- 
tendent of  supplies  who  purchases,  stores,  and  distributes 
such  supplies.  He  appoints,  upon  the  recommendation  of 
the  Board  of  Education,  a  deputy  in  each  borough  who 
takes  charge  of  school  supplies  for  that  district. 

The  City  Superintendent  and  Board  of  Superintendents. 
To  the  city  superintendent  and  Board  of  Superintendents 
the  schools  owe  much  of  their  success.  The  superintendent 
is  appointed  by  the  Board  of  Education  for  a  term  of  six 


102      GOVERNMENT   OF  THE   CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 

years.  He  meets  with  the  board  at  its  monthly  meetings 
and  tells  of  the  progress  of  the'  various  schools  ;  he  makes 
recommendations  and  suggestions,  but  does  not  have  a  vote 
in  the  board.  He  visits  the  schools,  and  one  of  his  duties 
prescribed  by  the  charter  is  to  "advise  and  encourage  the 
pupils  and  the  teachers  and  officers."  He  holds  conferences 
with  the  superintendents,  principals,  and  teachers,  and  keeps 
an  unceasing  lookout  for  the  general  welfare  of  the  schools. 
He  nominates  the  Board  of  Examiners,  of  which  he  is  the 
chairman  ex  officio.  This  board  examines  all  who  wish  to 
become  teachers,  and  prepares  what  is  called  an  eligible  list 
of  those  who  are  qualified,  which  they  present  to  the  Board 
of  Education  and  from  which  teachers  are  appointed. 

There  are  eight  associate  superintendents,  the  immediate 
helpers  of  the  city  superintendent,  and,  with  him  as  chair- 
man, they  constitute  the  Board  of  Superintendents.  This 
board  recommends  to  the  Board  of  Education  the  names  of 
twenty-six  persons,  who  are  then  elected  by  the  latter  board 
as  district  superintendents  for  respective  terms  of  six  years. 
The  city  superintendent  divides  the  forty-six  school  districts 
of  the  boroughs  among  twenty-three  of  these  district  super- 
intendents, giving  two  to  each.  The  remaining  three  dis- 
trict superintendents  are  assigned  to  special  work  ;  one  has 
the  care  of  summer  schools  and  playgrounds,  another  the 
supervision  of  evening  schools,  and  a  third  assists  in  super- 
vising the  high  schools.  The  Board  of  Superintendents 
nominates  all  teachers,  recommends  supplies  and  text- 
books and  the  courses  of  study,  besides  having  general 
oversight  of  school  organization. 

Work  of  the  Directors.  The  Board  of  Education  employs 
over  fifteen  thousand  teachers,  principals,  and  directors. 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION 


103 


The  many  schools  under  their  supervision  cover  almost  any 
branch  of  study  a  young  student  could  desire,  and  include 
every  grade  from  the  normal  college  to  the  kindergarten. 
There  are  directors  who  are  assigned  by  the  city  superin- 
tendent to  look  after  special  departments  and  classes  in  the 
schools.  Among  these  are  the  department  of  drawing  and 


FIG.  64.    Public  School  No.  106,  Manhattan 

constructive  work,  which  is  under  the  care  of  three  direct- 
ors ;  the  cooking  classes,  where  girls  are  taught  the  art  of 
preparing  food  scientifically  ;  sewing  classes,  which  offer 
instruction  in  dressmaking,  millinery,  and  mending ;  the 
department  of  music,  under  three  directors  ;  and  a  depart- 
ment for  truants,  where  incorrigibles  are  kept  until  their 
conduct  proves  that  they  can  be  trusted  to  return  to  the 
grade  school. 


104   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

Notable  also  among  these  departments  are  the  school  and 
classes  which  are  maintained  for  exceptional  children,  that  is, 
those  who  are  naturally  backward  in  their  studies  or  who  in 


FIG.  65.    A  Public  School  Gymnasium 

some  manner  are  defective.  The  good  that  has  been  ac- 
complished by  this  branch  is  remarkable,  and  has  won  the 
commendation  of  philanthropists  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 


FIG.  66.    A  Public  School  Swimming  Pool 

The  health  of  the  school  children  is  cared  for  under  the 
physical  culture  branch  of  instruction.  Through  it  gymna- 
siums are  maintained,  and  in  connection  with  the  gymnastic 


THE  DEPARTMENT   OF  EDUCATION 


105 


exercises  the  pupils  are  given  lessons  in  hygiene  and  physi- 
ology. Another  unusual  feature  of  the  school  system  of 
New  York  is  the  nautical  school  conducted  on  the  school- 
ship  S/.  Marys.  The  object  of  this  branch  is  to  provide 
officers  for  the  ships  of  our  merchant  marine.  The  length 
of  the  school  course  is  two  years,  and  under  certain  con- 
ditions any  male  pupil  may  join  the  school-ship.  Evening 
schools  are  established  in  all  parts  of  the  city  for  those  who 


FIG.  67.    Vacation  School  Experimental  Work 

cannot  attend  the  clay  sessions.  They  are  largely  attended  by 
older  scholars,  usually  those  working  for  their  own  support. 
Libraries.  The  pupils  have  marked  advantages  in  the 
school  libraries.  In  1903  there  was  an  accumulative  appro- 
priation of  about  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand  dollars, 
received  from  the  state  and  city,  which  was  available  to  buy 
books  for  the  city  schools.  A  bureau  of  libraries  was  estab- 
lished, a  superintendent  appointed,  and  a  plan  inaugurated 
for  the  distribution  of  the  books.  Sets  of  between  two  and 


106   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

three  hundred  volumes  were  selected  with  great  care  as  to 
the  needs  of  the  individual  schools,  and  many  such  sets  were 
placed  in  the  schoolrooms.  These  are  for  general  distribu- 
tion among  the  pupils  and  are  proving  most  helpful. 

Department  of  Lectures.  That  branch  of  the  school  sys- 
tem which  is  reaching  more  pupils  than  any  other,  although 
they  are  full-grown  men  and  women  students  instead  of 
boys  and  girls,  is  known  by  the  name  of  The  Free  Lec- 
ture Course.  The  good  which  this  department  is  doing 
can  scarcely  be  overestimated.  The  course  was  organized 
in  1889,  and  an  aggregate  of  over  one  million  persons  have 
heard  the  lectures  given.  The  object  is  to  give  instruc- 
tion in  an  interesting  form  to  those  who  were  deprived 


FIG.  68.   Recreation  Pier 


of  early  intellectual  training,  and  also  to  give  the  latest 
information  in  science  and  art  to  those  who  wish  to  continue 
their  education.  The  lecturers  include  well-known  college 
professors,  and  pulpit  and  platform  speakers ;  and  many  of 


THE   DEPARTMENT   OF   EDUCATION  107 

the  lectures  are  illustrated  with  stereopticon  views.  In  order 
to  reach  the  foreigners  who  have  lately  come  to  this  country, 
speakers  are  provided  in  the  Italian  and  Yiddish.  The  course 
provides  a  system  of  adult  education  which,  in  the  best  sense 
of  the  word,  is  the  realization  of  "university  extension." 


FIG.  69.    Girls  exercising  in  Gymnasium 

Vacation  Schools,  Public  Playgrounds,  and  Recreation 
Centers.  As  there  are  many  children  who  live  in  close  and 
confined  neighborhoods  in  the  city,  where  there  is  little 
opportunity  for  recreation  or  improvement,  vacation  schools 
and  recreation  centers,  with  public  playgrounds,  were  estab- 
lished by  the  Board  of  Education.  The  vacation  schools  open 
early  in  July  each  year  and  close  about  the  middle  of  August. 
They  are  held  in  the  schoolhouses  under  the  supervision  of 
a  large  corps  of  teachers,  with  an  enrollment  of  thousands  of 
pupils.  There  are  classes  in  domestic  science,  mechanical 
occupations,  and  nature  studies.  The  little  girls  are  taught 
to  prepare  simple  foods  and  remedies  for  the  sick,  and  how 
to  be  of  quick  aid  to  the  injured.  The  boys  are  taught  chair 
caning  and  similar  trades  by  which  they  often  earn  money. 
The  sessions  are  from  nine  to  twelve  o'clock  each  forenoon, 
while  the  playgrounds  are  used  from  one  to  five  in  the  after- 
noon. The  recreation  centers  are  open  all  the  year  round, 
except  during  the  summer  months. 


108   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

With  many  of  the  schoolhouses  open-air  playgrounds 
are  maintained ;  and  there  are  a  number  of  recreation  piers 
down  in  the  harbor  of  the  city,  which  are  provided  and 
maintained  by  the  Department  of  Docks  and  Ferries. 
Each  of  them  is  in  charge  of  directors  and  teachers,  and 
they  are  always  crowded  with  school  children  and  their 
parents.  These  vacation  schools  and  recreation  centers  are 
solving  one  of  the  serious  problems  confronting  the  Amer- 
ican people,  that  of  the  Americanization  of  the  foreigners 
who  come  to  our  shores.  The  Association  for  Improv- 
ing the  Condition  of  the  Poor  first  organized  the  summer 
schools.  When  the  Board  of  Education  saw  the  good  which 
was  being  done  in  that  manner  it  used  the  plan  in  connec- 
tion with  the  city  schools.  In  both  Manhattan  and  Brooklyn 
the  schoolhouses  in  the  most  crowded  districts  have  been 
selected  for  recreation  purposes. 

Summary.  The  public  schools  of  New  York  City  offer  unusual 
advantages  for  pupils.  The  present  system  is  built  upon  the  founda- 
tion laid  by  the  Free  School  Society  and  the  Public  School  Society, 
especially  the  latter.  Assistance  from  the  state  funds  was  first  given 
the  common  schools  in  1813.  The  Board  of  Education  was  organized 
in  1842  by  the  election  of  two  commissioners  from  each  ward  in 
New  York  City.  The  important  officers  in  connection  with  the  public 
schools  are  the  city  superintendent,  Board  of  Superintendents,  superin- 
tendent of  school  supplies,  and  the  district  superintendents.  The  city 
superintendent,  appointed  by  the  Board  of  Education,  holds  the  most 
responsible  position  of  any  school  officer.  The  Board  of  Education 
employs  directors  to  look  after  special  departments  and  appoints  the 
teachers.  Through  the  Bureau  of  Libraries  books  are  distributed  among 
the  pupils.  Besides  the  regular  day  schools  the  system  includes  evening 
schools,  vacation  schools,  a  nautical  school,  and  classes  for  defective 
children ;  there  are  also  departments  of  music,  drawing  and  constructive 
work,  cooking,  and  sewing.  The  system  also  includes  an  extensive 
lecture  bureau,  vacation  and  summer  schools,  and  recreation  centers. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  STREET  CLEANING 

Origin  and  Organization  of  the  Department.  Street  clean- 
ing in  the  days  of  our  forefathers  was  a  matter  which  was 
largely  left  to  the  individual  householders.  The  annals  of 
New  Amsterdam  record  that  in  1656  the  burgomasters 


FIG.  70.    Mulberry  Bend  Park 

made  an  ordinance  that  all  haystacks,  henhouses,  and  pig- 
pens on  the  principal  streets  should  be  relegated  to  the 
back  yards  of  the  owners.  The  next  year  the  village  was 
surveyed  and  several  streets  were  established  and  named. 
It  is  interesting  to  know  how  the  first  of  these  came  to 
be  paved.  It  was  a  much-used  thoroughfare  and  in  conse- 
quence was  usually  very  dusty  or  else  very  muddy.  This 

109 


110   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

was  such  an  annoyance  to  one  of  the  cleanly  Knickerbocker 
housewives,  whose  front  door  opened  upon  it,  that  she  gave 
the  good  burgomasters  no  rest  until  they  had  had  it  covered 
with  cobblestones.  As  it  was  the  first  street  in  the  little 
town  to  have  any  paving,  it  soon  began  to  be  called  Stone 
Street,  a  name  which  it  still  bears.  A  few  years  later 
nearly  all  of  the  seventeen  streets  were  similarly  paved, 
and  each  one  had  a  gutter  running  down  its  center.  Side- 
walks were  unknown  luxuries  in  the  hamlet  at  that  time. 


FIG.  71.    A  Street  Sweeper 

Toward  the  end  of  that  century  street  cleaning  became 
the  subject  of  city  legislation.  A  law  was  passed  requiring 
every  citizen  to  keep  the  street  in  front  of  his  residence  in 
a  cleanly  condition,  and  the  street  surveyor  was  notified  to 
"  cause  all  stramonium  and  other  poisonous  weeds  rooted 
up  within  the  city."  It  was  not,  however,  until  1795  that 
sewers  were  introduced,  and  until  the  middle  of  the  next 
century  the  streets  were  badly  paved  and  but  rarely  cleaned. 

The  first  regularly  appointed  official  designated  for  the 
specific  duty  of  looking  after  the  cleanliness  of  the  streets 


THE   DEPARTMENT   OF  STREET  CLEANING       in 


was  the  city  inspector.  In  course  of  time  this  duty  was 
taken  away  from  him  and  placed  in  charge  of  a  bureau 
under  the  Department  of  Health.  With  the  change  from 
state  to  city  control  of  that  body  it  was  transferred  to  the 
Police  Department.  In  1881  a  new  bureau  was  organized 
for  the  purpose  of  cleaning  the  streets  and  disposing  of  the 
city's  wastes.  Even  then  the  work  was  not  done  satisfac- 
torily, so  about  ten  years  later  the  Department  of  Street 
Cleaning  was  organ- 
ized very  much  on 
its  present  plan. 

The  Commissioner 
of  Street  Cleaning 
has  the  control  of 
the  department.  He 
is  appointed  by  the 
mayor,  to  whom  he 
is  responsible  for 
the  cleanliness  of 
the  streets  of  the 
boroughs  of  Man- 


FIG.  72.   Sweeping  by  Hand 


hattan,  The  Bronx,  and  Brooklyn.  The  street  cleaning  of 
Queens  and  Richmond  is  in  charge  of  the  presidents  of 
those  boroughs.  Besides  seeing  that  the  streets  are  kept 
clean,  the  commissioner  must  also  remove  and  dispose  of 
all  rubbish,  garbage,  and  ashes.  It  is  not  an  easy  matter 
to  collect  such  an  enormous  amount  of  refuse  as  New  York 
City  gathers  each  day,  nor  to  decide  where  to  take  it  and 
what  to  do  with  it. 

Cleaning  the  Streets.   You  know  the  street  cleaner  when 
you  see  him  by  his  white  suit  and  badge,  even  without  his 


112   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

broom  and  shovel.  He  is  one  of  more  than  three  thou- 
sand men  employed  in  keeping  the  streets  of  the  city  clean. 
The  twelve  hundred  miles  of  paved  streets  are  divided  into 
districts,  with  a  superintendent  in  charge  of  each.  These 
districts  are  subdivided,  and  a  fixed  portion  is  assigned  to 
each  sweeper,  so  that  when  a  street  is  not  kept  clean  it  is 
at  once  known  which  sweeper  is  neglecting  his  duties.  All 
streets  must  be  cleaned  at  least  once  a  day.  Those  in  the 
crowded  portions  are  cleaned  twice  or  even  three  times 


FIG.  73.    The  Street-Cleaning  Implements 

a  day.  Have  you  ever  watched  the  street  cleaner  ?  He 
sweeps  by  hand  because  the  cracks  and  crevices  are  more 
thoroughly  cleaned  in  this  way,  although  a  sweeping  ma- 
chine assists  him  whenever  possible.  After  collecting  the 
sweepings  into  a  pile  he  shovels  them  into  a  can  attached 
to  his  cart ;  when  the  can  is  filled  it  is  placed  on  a  curbing 
for  a  wagon  to  gather  up  and  carry  off  to  the  city  dumps. 
In  warm  weather  asphalt  pavements  are  washed  either  by 
hose  or  flushing  carts.  One  reason  the  streets  are  washed  is 
because  the  air  of  crowded  sections  has  been  photographed, 


THE   DEPARTMENT   OF   STREET  CLEANING      113 


and  after  washing  has  been  found  to  be  much  purer  and 
freer  from  the  harmful  bacteria  which  come  from  dirt  and 
decaying  matter.  This  is  why  the  city  water  carts  so  fre- 
quently flood  the  thoroughfares  during  the  hot  weather. 

Removing  Ice  and  Snow.  It  is  far  easier  to  keep  the 
streets  clean  in  summer  than  in  winter,  because  of  the  ice 
and  snow.  Yet  it  is  done  more  speedily  if  the  snow  is 
removed  at  once  before  it  packs  and  hardens  and  becomes 
a  hindrance  to  traffic.  After  a  storm  the  street  railways 
clear  their  own  tracks,  and  if  there  has  been  a  heavy  fall  of 
snow  the  Department 
of  Street  Cleaning 
engages  private  com- 
panies to  help  remove 
it  at  a  specified  sum 
per  cubic  foot.  If  the 
snow  melts  rapidly  it 
is  swept  into  the  gut- 
ters, allowed  to  drain, 
and  the  sweepings  FIG.  74-  A  Hose  Cart 

carted  off.  If  the  weather  is  severe  the  snow  must  be 
shoveled,  carted  off,  and  dumped  into  the  river.  While  the 
snow  is  still  falling  gangs  of  workmen,  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
apart,  begin  to  clear  the  streets.  Those  most  used  are  first 
cleared.  All  snow  too  filthy  to  be  dumped  into  the  river 
must  be  taken  out  to  sea  upon  department  scows. 

Disposing  of  the  Wastes  of  the  City :  Rubbish.  The  care- 
fully covered  steel  rubbish  carts  passing  in  the  streets  give 
no  idea  of  their  queer  contents.  They  contain  old  papers, 
store  sweepings,  tin  cans,  bottles,  broken  furniture,  boxes, 
and  barrels,  all  of  which  is  seemingly  worthless  trash.  But 


114   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

it  is  not ;  it  is  of  so  much  value  that  certain  business  firms 
pay  the  city  a  good  round  sum  for  the  right  of  picking  over 
the  city  dump  heaps,  to  take  out  whatever  they  desire. 

Paper  and  rags  are  sold  to  paper  manufacturers,  tin  cans 
to  solder  factories,  while  old  shoes  are  patched  and  sold  to 
needy  people.  Uses  are  found  for  bottles  and  all  sorts  of 
articles.  The  refuse  is  taken  to  Forty-seventh  Street  and 


FIG.  75.    Picking  over  Street  Refuse 

North  River,  where  it  is  separated  in  the  following  manner. 
It  is  first  disinfected,  after  which  it  is  placed  upon  a  trav- 
eling belt,  on  either  side  of  which  stand  pickers  who  care- 
fully sort  out  and  throw  into  piles  the  desired  articles. 
Everything  which  can  be  sold  is  taken  out.  Paper  and  rags 
are  dropped  through  hoppers  into  the  rooms  below,  where 
they  are  baled.  The  refuse  remaining  on  the  belt  is  fed 
through  a  hopper  into  three  furnaces  below.  This,  with 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF   STREET  CLEANING      115 


all  heavy  material,  such  as  boxes,  supplies  fuel  for  the  plant, 
or  incinerator,  as  the  plant  is  called.  The  heat  thus  gener- 
ated furnishes  sufficient 
power  to  run  all  the 
machinery  of  the  incin- 
erator, to  light  it,  to 
operate  its  electrical 
plant,  and  also  to  light  a 
neighboring  stable  of  the 
department.  And  all  this 
takes  but  forty  of  the  two 
hundred  and  forty  horse 
power  generated  ;  the 
rest  of  the  power  will 
probably  be  used  in  the 

near  future  to  generate  electricity  for  lighting  other  de- 
partment stables  and  neighboring  recreation  piers. 

Ashes  and  Sweepings.    The  two  million  cart  loads  of  ashes 

gathered  every  year  in 
the  city,  which  used  to 
be  dumped  at  sea,  are 
now  used  to  fill  in  low 
lands.  In  Brooklyn  ashes 
and  street  sweepings  are 
carried  to  receiving 
stations.  These  stations 
are  placed  for  conven- 
FIG.  77.  Dumping  Street  Refuse  to  build  ience  in  the  center  of  the 
up  New  Land  districts  into  which  the 

city  is  divided.     Inside  the  station  are  sunken  metal  bins, 
each  holding  ten  cubic  yards.    When  filled  they  are  securely 


Il6      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 


covered  to  prevent  the  escape  of  odors.  At  night  the  bins 
are  hoisted  upon  flat  trolley  cars  and  carried  to  the  marshes. 
In  the  morning  unloading  begins.  A  derrick  lifts  the  bin 
from  the  car,  swings  it  out  over  the  meadow,  empties,  and 
returns  it ;  or  the  bin  is  lifted  upon  a  raised  cable,  carried 
out,  and  emptied  by  tripping.  The  "mosquito  beds"  back 
of  Coney  Island  are  in  this  way  being  filled  in,  and  may  one 
day  become  pleasant  resorts. 

From  the  ashes  of  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx  a  valuable 
island  belonging  to  the  city  is  being  enlarged.  This  is 
Riker's  Island,  lying  in  the  East  River  between  Long  Island 
City  and  the  mouth  of  the  Bronx  River.  A  few  years  ago 
only  eighty-seven  acres  were  above  water;  the  remaining 

two  hundred  and 
forty-two  were 
mud  lands  varying 
in  depth  below  the 
surface.  Already 
sixty-three  acres 
have  been  re- 
claimed, adding 
six  hundred  and 
thirty  thousand 
dollars  to  the 
city's  wealth.  The 
remaining  one  hundred  and  seventy-nine  acres  will  be 
reclaimed  in  the  same  way.  Is  it  not  a  fine  thing  to  see 
worthless  lands  built  up  and  made  valuable  by  material 
which  was  once  wasted? 

Other  Uses  for  the  City's  Wastes :  Street  Sweepings  and 
Ashes.  There  are  other  methods  of  disposing  of  the  city's 


FIG.  78.    Garbage  Cart 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF   STREET  CLEANING      117 

wastes  which,  while  not  yet  in  use,  may  some  day  add  to 
the  city's  income.  A  fertilizer  could  be  separated  from 
street  sweepings,  and,  were  the  quantity  large  enough,  sold 
to  enrich  farm  lands.  Ashes  could  be  sifted  and  the  bits 
of  coal  and  cinders  sold  as  cheap  fuel.  The  powdered  ash 
from  the  incinerator  mentioned  is  a  vegetable  ash,  and 
makes  another  fertilizer.  The  ashes  from  furnaces  where 


FIG.  79.    A  View  on  the  Hudson  River 

coal  is  burned  may  be  used  in  making  fireproof  floors,  in 
making  brick  or  mortar,  cement,  or  artificial  stone. 

Garbage.  Have  you  ever  wondered  what  became  of  the 
food  left  on  our  plates  at  the  table, — the  orange  skins  and 
banana  peel  ?  You  say  it  goes  into  the  garbage  can  and  a 
man  takes  it  away  in  a  cart  every  day.  Yes,  but  after  that 
it  is  carted  to  the  department  dumps,  loaded  upon  scows, 
and  towed  to  Barren  Island  in  the  harbor.  There  the  cans, 


Il8      GOVERNMENT  OF   THE   CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 

bottles,  and  bones  are  taken  out  and  sold.  The  garbage 
itself  is  put  into  tanks  fifteen  feet  deep,  called  digesters,  and 
cooked  by  steam  from  ten  to  twelve  hours.  First  the  oil 
and  fat  are  separated;  then  the  garbage  is  drawn  off  and 
the  oily  substance  pressed  out.  What  is  left,  the  tankage, 
is  dried,  sifted,  and  sold  for  a  fertilizer.  The  oil  is  pressed 
out,  refined,  and  used  in  soap  and  also  in  making  perfumery. 
A  city  ordinance  requires  that  garbage,  rubbish,  and  ashes 
be  kept  separate.  This  is  necessary,  as  garbage  mixed  with 
ashes  cannot  be  reduced  into  useful  products,  nor  can  it  be 
used  to  fill  in  waste  land,  for  then  it  would  decay  and  cause 
unhealthful  conditions,  and  perhaps  disease. 

Summary.  Street  cleaning  in  colonial  days  was  the  work  of  the 
individual  householders.  When  the  city  first  took  it  in  charge  it  was 
under  an  inspector ;  next  it  became  a  bureau  of  the  Board  of  Health  ; 
then  it  was  under  the  Police  Department.  In  1881  the  Street  Cleaning 
Department  was  organized.  The  head  of  the  department  is  the  com- 
missioner ;  there  are  more  than  three  thousand  street  cleaners  in  the 
department,  who  clean  the  city  streets  daily.  The  waste  of  the  city  is 
valuable.  Parts  of  it  are  sold,  and  parts  are  used  in  building  up  sunken 
portions  of  the  city  streets  and  in  filling  in  low  lands.  Garbage  is 
used  in  the  manufacture  of  soaps  and  oils,  and  for  fertilizing. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  WATER  SUPPLY,  GAS,  AND 
ELECTRICITY:  THE  WATER  SUPPLY 

Water  Supply  of  New  Amsterdam.  When  the  little 
Dutch  colony  established  the  first  trading  post  on  the  south- 
ern end  of  Manhattan  Island  it  was  almost  surrounded  by 
water;  but,  like  the  Ancient  Mariner,  the  colonists  might 
have  cried,  Water,  water  everywhere, 

Nor  any  drop  to  drink  ; 

for  the  waters  of  the  East  and  North  rivers  were  then, 
of  course,  as  now,  made  unfit  for  use  by  the  salt  tides  of 
the  ocean. 

One  of  the  things  they  did  immediately,  therefore,  was 
to  dig  a  deep  well  just  in  front  of  the  fort,  which  for  the 
time  being  supplied  their  common  need.  As  more  families 
arrived  from  Holland  and  the  settlement  grew  beyond  the 
fort,  the  public  well  became  insufficient.  Then  the  burghers 
dug  wells  in  their  dooryards,  and  these  wells,  with  their 
curbing  of  earth  and  stone,  and  long  sweeping  bucket  poles, 
made  one  of  the  picturesque  features  of  the  quaint  village. 

Presently  there  was  need  for  a  larger  public  water  supply, 
but  how  to  obtain  it  was  a  vexed  question  even  at  that  day. 
Until  long  after  the  province  had  passed  under  the  English, 
public  wells  were  dug  on  the  leading  thoroughfares  and 
supplied  the  town  with  water.  By  the  time  the  population 
had  spread  northward  as  far  as  Wall  Street  the  waters 
of  Collect  Pond  were  being  used.  Collect  Pond  was  a  sheet 

119 


120 


THE  WATER  SUPPLY 


121 


of  fresh  water  sixty  feet  deep  and  seventy  acres  in  area, 
covering  the  streets  now  occupied  by  the  city  prison  and 
other  great  buildings  in  that  neighborhood.  For  many  years 
it  supplied  the  need  for  water,  but  eventually  the  pond 
became  unwholesome  and  the  town  authorities  ordered  its 
mammoth  bed  filled  in.  To  carry  away  the  water  a  canal  was 


FIG.  81.    Collect  Pond 

dug  from  the  pond  to  the  river,  but  afterwards  this  canal  was 
filled  in  also,  and  a  wide,  handsome  street  took  its  place  and 
name,  —  the  present  Canal  Street.  When  we  look  at  the  city 
prison  and  the  surrounding  great  buildings  it  is  hard  for  us 
to  realize  that  they  stand  where  was  once  a  deep  sheet  of 
water.  Yet  even  at  the  present  day  this  section,  far  beneath 
the  surface  of  the  ground,  is  still  a  wet,  swampy  region,  and 
is  drained  by  many  huge  pipes  of  the  city  sewer  system. 


122      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 


The  Aaron  Burr  Waterworks.  By  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century  the  question  of  a  water  supply  for  New 
York  City  had  become  a  very  serious  one,  and  many  plans 
were  devised  whereby  pure  water  could  be  obtained.  Some 
proposed  building  reservoirs  and  piping  the  water  through 

wooden  conduits 
from  the  inland 
streams,  and  at 
about  the  time 
of  the  Revolution 
an  attempt  was 
made  to  put  this 
plan  into  execu- 
tion, but  it  did 
not  prove  suc- 
cessful. A  little 
later  one  of  New 
York's  citizens, 
who  had  long 
been  identified 
with  its  activities, 
became  inter- 
ested in  securing 
a  water  supply. 
This  was  Aaron  Burr,  who  will  always  be  connected  in  his- 
tory with  the  tragic  death  of  the  gifted  Alexander  Hamilton, 
but  whose  name  in  New  York  City  is  to  this  day  linked  with 
the  scheme  by  which  he  secured  the  right  to  establish  a 
bank  there,  through  the  ostensible  purpose  of  supplying 
the  city  with  water.  It  was  a  shrewdly  laid  scheme,  and 
was  executed  as  skillfully  as  it  was  planned. 


FIG.  82.    A  House  of  the  Knickerbocker  Days 
in  Weehawken,  New  York  City 


THE  WATER  SUPPLY  123 

Burr  was  a  politician  and  was  closely  associated  with 
the  events  of  that  period.  It  chanced  that  both  of  the 
banks  in  New  York  City  at  that  time  were  controlled  by 
the  political  party  to  which  Burr  did  not  belong.  He  was 
exceedingly  anxious  to  start  one  which  his  party  could 
dominate  ;  but  there  was  a  sentiment  against  banks,  and 
the  state  legislature  firmly  refused  to  allow  the  city  to 
charter  another  one.  Burr  was  a  member  of  the  legisla- 
ture, and  at  last  he  devised  a  plan  by  which  he  outwitted 


FIG.  83.    Titicus  Dam 

those  who  opposed  the  bank  charter.  New  York  City's 
need  of  water  was  well  known,  and  one  day  in  the  legis- 
lative chamber  Burr  made  a  great  speech  on  that  sub- 
ject. In  thrilling  terms  he  pictured  the  awful  danger  that 
menaced  America's  leading  metropolis.  He  told  how  a 
scourge  of  cholera  would  sweep  over  it,  with  the  people 
falling  like  grass  before  the  mower.  He  ended  in  a  burst 
of  eloquence,  pleading  with  his  fellow-statesmen  to  grant 
the  needed  protection.  This  speech  moved  them  mightily, 
and  when  a  few  days  later  a  bill  was  introduced  to  charter 
a  water  company  for  the  city,  it  passed  with  scarcely  a  dis- 
senting vote.  Burr  and  several  others  were  the  incorporators 


124  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

of  the  company,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  legisla- 
tors discovered  that  a  trick  had  been  played  upon  them 
whereby  they  had  granted  not  only  a  charter  for  city  water- 
works but  a  bank  charter  as  well.  One  of  the  adroitly 
worded  paragraphs  of  the  charter  for  the  waterworks  pro- 
vided that  the  surplus  capital  accruing  from  it  could  be 
used  "  in  purchasing  public  stock  or  in  any  other  moneyed 
transaction,"  It  was  this  skillful  wording  that  permitted 
Burr  and  his  colleagues  to  establish  their  bank. 

That  they  had  no  intention  of  giving  the  city  an  ade- 
quate water  supply  was  soon  demonstrated  by  the  small  and 
insufficient  plant  which  they  installed,  but  the  bank  which 
they  established  was  a  very  different  matter.  They  laid  the 
foundation  for  it  so  substantially  that  it  still  exists  and  is 
the  second  in  importance  in  the  city  to-day,  —  the  Manhat- 
tan Bank  on  Wall  Street.  In  the  heart  of  the  business 
section  of  the  city  there  still  remains  a  curious  relic  of  the 
Burr  waterworks.  By  the  charter  which  was  obtained  to 
establish  these  waterworks,  and  by  which  the  Manhattan 
Bank  was  also  established,  it  was  pledged  that  a  reservoir 
to  supply  the  city  with  water  would  be  maintained  in  per- 
petuity. In  fulfillment  of  this  contract  the  banking  com- 
pany have  always  kept  the  little  reservoir,  which  the  Burr 
Company  erected  so  many  years  ago,  filled  with  water.  It 
stands  on  the  corner  of  Center  and  Reade  streets,  but  its 
primitive  appearance  caused  so  much  curious  comment  that 
a  few  years  ago  the  banking  company  had  it  inclosed  in  a 
building  which  now  hides  it  from  public  gaze. 

The  Commencement  of  the  Croton  Water  System.  For 
over  thirty  years  the  people  of  the  city  endured  the  badly 
managed,  meager  supply  of  the  Burr  waterworks.  Time 


THE  WATER  SUPPLY 


125 


and  again  plans  were  proposed  to  the  city  council  and  the 
state  assembly  for  new  waterworks  companies,  yet  each 
time  they  failed  of  execution.  In  1832  the  city  suffered 
from  a  cholera  scourge  quite  as  dreadful  as  Aaron  Burr  had 
pictured  in  his  famous  speech.  Then  a  vigorous  and  finally 
successful  effort  was  made  to  secure  an  adequate  water 
supply.  The  council  appointed  a  commission,  of  which 


FIG.  84.    A  Part  of  the  Croton  River  Watershed 

Colonel  De  Witt  Clinton  was  chairman,  to  find  a  source 
where  such  a  supply  could  be  secured,  and  to  present  a  plan 
whereby  it  could  be  introduced  into  the  city.  After  months 
of  investigation  the  commission  presented  a  detailed  plan 
for  conducting  the  water  of  the  Croton  River  —  a  deep, 
clear  stream  in  Putnam  and  Westchester  counties — through 
an  aqueduct  to  the  city.  The  distance  of  the  Croton  River, 
forty  miles,  was  thought  to  be  too  great,  and  the  enterprise 


126   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

was  so  bitterly  opposed  that  for  some  time  it  could  not  be 
put  into  execution.  But  in  1834  the  governor  of  the  state 
named  a  commission  of  five  men,  empowering  it  to  construct 
a  waterworks  plant  of  sufficient  magnitude  to  bring  the 
waters  from  the  Croton  River  to  the  city.  The  commission 
met  so  many  obstacles  that  the  actual  work  of  construction 
was  not  commenced  until  1837. 

Construction  of  the  First  Dam  and  Aqueduct.    In  order  to 
build  the  original  Croton  dam  and  aqueduct,  the  land  for 


FIG.  85.   Old  Croton  Dam 

the  right  of  way  and  watersheds  had  to  be  purchased,  and 
as  many  of  the  people  living  along  the  route  thought  New 
York  was  trying  to  rob  the  country  of  water,  much  difficulty 
was  encountered  in  securing  the  necessary  lands.  After 
that  was  settled  the  construction  of  the  reservoir,  the  build- 
ing of  the  aqueduct,  and  the  digging  of  the  tunnels  involved 
enormous  labor  and  a  vast  outlay  of  money.  The  reservoir 
was  made  by  building  a  dam  across  the  Croton  River,  six 
miles  from  its  mouth,  which  raised  the  water  back  of  it 
forty  feet  and  produced  a  lake  four  miles  in  extent,  holding 


THE  WATER  SUPPLY 


127 


three  hundred  and  ninety-five  million  gallons  of  water.    The 

aqueduct  was  horseshoe 

in  form,  about  eight  and 

a  half  feet  high  by  seven 

and  a  half  wide,  and 

arched  at  the  top.    It 

was  made  of  stone, 

brick,  and  cement,  and, 

except  where  it  was 

inclosed  in  the  tunnels, 

was  carried  down  to  the 

city  on  the  surface  of 

the  ground.    Sixteen 

tunnels  were  built  in 

the  course  of  the  forty- 

two  miles  to  the  city. 

To  carry  the  aqueduct 
over  the  Harlem  River 
the  High  Bridge  was 
built  at  One  Hundred 
and  Seventy-fifth 
Street.  It  stands  one 
hundred  feet  above  low 
tide,  with  stately  arches 
and  piers  extending  a 
length  of  fourteen 
hundred  and  fifty  feet. 
From  the  High  Bridge 
the  water  was  carried  to 
two  great  receiving  res- 
ervoirs, one  in  Central  Park  and  the  other  at  Forty-second 


128   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

Street  and  Fifth  Avenue.  The  latter  was  abandoned  in 
1903  in  order  that  the  new  public  library  might  be  erected 
on  its  site.  When  the  waterworks  were  completed  in  Octo- 
ber, 1842,  the  event  was  commemorated  by  one  of  the 
greatest  celebrations  that  has  ever  taken  place  in  the  city. 

The  Need  for  More  Water.  At  the  time  the  original  Cro- 
ton  Aqueduct  was  finished  there  were  many  people  who 
thought  that  it  would  be  at  least  one  hundred  years  before 


FIG.  87.    The  New  Dam  in  Course  of  Construction 

a  larger  water  supply  could  possibly  be  needed.  But  they 
did  not  realize  how  rapidly  the  city  would  grow.  In  1840 
it  had  a  population  of  about  four  hundred  thousand ;  by  1 860 
this  number  had  leaped  to  over  a  million,  and  consequently 
the  water  supply  was  again  inadequate.  A  new  reservoir 
in  Central  Park,  standing  at  the  north  of  the  first  one, 
was  therefore  completed  in  1864.  It  supplied  the  demand 
for  a  good  many  years,  and  then  it  was  found  that  the  water 
did  not  reach  some  of  the  houses  in  the  higher  localities  of 


THE  WATER  SUPPLY  129 

the  city.  To  meet  this  need  a  high-tower  reservoir  two 
hundred  and  sixteen  feet  high  and  three  hundred  and  six- 
teen feet  above  water  tide  was  erected  at  the  High  Bridge. 
When  the  new  reservoir  in  Central  Park  was  built  it  was 
the  largest  receiving  and  distributing  reservoir  in  the  world, 
yet  by  1873  it  had  become  too  small  to  meet  the  demands 
made  upon  it  for  water.  So  in  the  ten  years  following  four 
more  reservoirs  were  constructed.  One  was  built  on  the 
west  branch  of  Croton  River  at  Boyd's  Corners,  another 


FIG.  88.    High  Bridge  Reservoir  and  Tower 

farther  in  the  country  on  the  middle  branch,  and  two,  the 
'Kensico  and  Williamsbridge,  were  formed  by  damming  the 
waters  of  the  Bronx  and  By  ram  rivers.  The  many-storied 
buildings  which  had  begun  to  appear  in  the  lower  part  of 
the  city  created  the  necessity  for  another  high-service  plant. 
Accordingly,  in  1866,  a  water  tower  and  reservoir  were 
erected  at  Ninety-seventh  and  Ninety-eighth  streets,  west 
of  Columbus  Avenue. 

The  New  Croton  Dam.    Notwithstanding  all  these  sources 
of  supply,  by  1883  the  city  was  once  more  suffering  from  a 


130   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


scarcity  of  water.  The  state  legislature  of  1883,  therefore, 
appointed  an  Aqueduct  Commission,  empowering  it  to  build 
another  dam  at  Croton  River  and  another  aqueduct  leading 
from  it.  The  new  dam  was  built  three  miles  below  the  old 
one.  It  was  begun  in  1892  and  consumed  about  fourteen 
years  in  building.  This  vast  reservoir  with  its  outlying 
banks  covers  eight  thousand  acres  and  has  a  capacity  of 
the  almost  inconceivable  quantity  of  twenty-four  thousand 

million  gallons  of  water. 
It  lies  one  hundred  and 
ninety-six  feet  higher 
than  water  tide  and 
thirty  feet  higher  than 
the  old  dam,  which  it 
submerges.  To  supply 
the  water  for  the  vast 
reservoir  additional 
land  was  purchased  in 
Westchester  and  Put- 

FIG.  89.    Section  of  Reservoir  where  Water     nam    counties,  and   the 
can  be  shut  off  while  Repairs  are  being     city    nOW    Owns    Over 

three  hundred  and  sixty 
miles  of  the  rivers  draining  the  Croton  watershed. 

Reservoirs.  In  connection  with  the  new  dam  several 
storage  reservoirs  located  in  the  Croton  watershed  will  be 
operated.  The  distributing  one  is  at  Jerome  Park.  It 
covers  two  hundred  and  seventy  acres  of  land,  is  thirty 
feet  deep,  and  has  a  capacity  of  one  billion  eight  million 
gallons  of  water.  Besides  this  one  there  are  several  other 
storage  reservoirs  in  the  watershed  and  a  number  of  natu- 
ral lakes. 


THE  WATER  SUPPLY  131 

New  Aqueduct  and  the  Route.  There  are  many  points  of 
difference  between  the  old  aqueduct  and  the  new  one.  The 
old  aqueduct  was  brought  to  the  city  the  greater  part  of  the 
way  on  the  surface  of  the  ground;  the  new  aqueduct  lies 
far  beneath  the  surface  in  a  tunnel,  which  makes  the  con- 
duit much  less  liable  to  accident.  As  far  as  the  Jerome  Park 


FIG.  90.    Horseshoe  Section  of  Aqueduct 

reservoir  the  conduit  is  in  the  shape  of  an  inverted  horse- 
shoe, a  little  more  than  thirteen  feet  high  and  fourteen  feet 
wide ;  from  there  into  the  city  it  is  circular  in  form  and 
twelve  feet  in  diameter.  The  entire  conduit  is  of  solid 
masonry,  and  so  large  that  a  boat  holding  twelve  men  could 
row  through  it  from  the  inlet  gatehouse  at  Croton  Lake  to 
the  gatehouse  at  One  Hundred  and  Fifty-fifth  Street.  So 
great  is  the  consumption  of  water  in  Manhattan  and  The 
Bronx  that  after  the  water  leaves  the  receiving  reservoirs  it 


132   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

requires  one  thousand  miles  of  water  mains  to  distribute  it 
through  the  streets  and  to  the  buildings  of  these  boroughs. 
Other  Waterworks.  Neither  Brooklyn,  Kings,  nor  Rich- 
mond is  so  fortunate  in  its  water  supply  as  are  the  boroughs 
of  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx.  Brooklyn's  water  supply 
comes  from  the  streams  which  drain  the  southern  slope 
of  Long  Island,  and  from  a  large  number  of  wells  driven 
at  different  points  in  the  same  neighborhood.  The  water 


FIG.  91.    Gatehouse  at  One  Hundred  and  Fifty  fifth  Street 

is  conducted  through  iron  pipes  or  brick  conduits  to  the  main 
pumping  station  at  Ridgewood,  and  thence  to  the  reser- 
voirs. There  is  also  a  reservoir  and  high-water  tower  near 
Prospect  Park.  Besides  these  there  are  other  private  water 
plants  which  derive  their  supply  from  deep  wells.  The 
boroughs  of  Queens  and  Richmond  have  several  private 
water  plants. 

The  Care  of  the  Water  Supply.  The  city  uses  every  pos- 
sible precaution  to  keep  the  water  supply  pure  and  clean. 
It  maintains  the  strictest  surveillance  over  the  Croton 


THE   WATER  SUPPLY  133 

watershed.  A  force  of  men  from  the  water  department 
watches  the  land,  the  reservoirs,  the  rivers,  and  streams,  to 
see  that  nothing  goes  into  them  which  would  pollute  the 
water.  They  also  enforce  strict  rules  of  sanitation  through- 
out the  entire  district.  All  the  sewage  from  the  towns, 
villages,  and  farms  is  carefully  kept  from  passing  into  or 
near  any  of  the  water  which  flows  into  the  Croton  Dam. 
In  Brooklyn  the  department  has  large  filtering  plants  to 
cleanse  portions  of  the  water  used  by  that  borough,  and 
also  to  test  the  water  used  by  the  others. 

Summary.  Until  the  Revolution  the  water  supply  of  New  York 
City  was  secured  from  public  wells,  Collect  Pond,  and  other  insufficient 
sources.  The  Aaron  Burr  waterworks  resulted  in  establishing  a  bank, 
but  did  not  adequately  supply  the  city  with  water.  After  years  of  effort 
the  Croton  system  was  put  into  operation.  From  the  original  dam  at 
the  head  of  Croton  River  water  is  conducted  into  the  city  through 
forty-two  miles  of  conduits.  Several  other  reservoirs  and  a  large  dam 
have  since  been  constructed.  The  other  boroughs  are  supplied  by 
private  water  companies. 


FIG.  92.    The  Van  Wyck  House,  Flatlands,  L.I. 
One  of  the  remaining  Dutch  houses  of  Knickerbocker  days 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  WATER  SUPPLY,  GAS,  AND 

ELECTRICITY:  THE  BUREAU  OF  GAS 

AND  ELECTRICITY 

Early  Dutch  Methods  of  Lighting.  When  nightfall  came 
upon  New  Amsterdam  tallow  candles  in  metal  candlesticks 
were  taken  from  the  high  mantles  over  the  broad  fireplaces 
and  placed  on  the  center  tables  beside  the  huge  snuffers 
that  were  used  to  snip  off  the  burned  ends  of  the  woolen 
wicks  after  the  candles  were  lighted.  If  the  hospitable 
burgher  intended  to  give  an  evening  entertainment,  doz- 
ens of  these  candles  were  placed  about  the  roomy  apart- 
ment, their  flickering  flames  protected  from  draughts  by 
high,  chimney-shaped  glass  covers.  Many  of  these  quaint 
colonial  relics  are  still  owned  by  the  descendants  of  the 


THE  BUREAU   OF  GAS  AND  ELECTRICITY       135 


Knickerbocker  families  in  New  York  City,  who  preserve 
them  with  much  pride  and  veneration. 

The  method  of  lighting  the  streets  in  those  days  was 
even  more  primitive  than  that  of  lighting  the  houses. 
There  were  no  lamps  or  lamp-posts  on  the  street  corners, 
but  to  take  their  place  the  burgomasters  passed  an  ordi- 
nance that  "  for  want  of  light 
in  the  dark  times  of  the  moon 
in  the  winter  season,"  the 
burgher  living  in  every 
seventh  house  was  to  put  a 
lighted  candle  in  a  lantern 
and  hang  it  on  a  pole  from 
one  of  the  upper  windows  of 
his  dwelling.  To  meet  the 
requirements  of  this  public 
lighting,  the  families  living 
in  the  intervening  six  houses 
provided  the  candles,  but  the 
burgher  who  attended  to  the 
lantern  was  exempt  from 
the  candle  taxation.  This 
method  of  lighting  continued 
for  many  years,  but  about 
1750  the  annals  of  the  town  record  that  the  aldermen 
ordered  lamp-posts  to  be  placed  on  the  more  public  thor- 
oughfares, which  were  supplied  with  lamps  burning  various 
kinds  of  animal  oil. 

The  Introduction  of  Oil,  Gas,  and  Electricity.  After  the 
discovery  of  petroleum  wells  in  Pennsylvania,  New  York, 
and  other  sections  of  the  country,  in  the  middle  of  the 


FIG.  93.    Old  Colonial  Lantern 

This  hung  in  the  main  hall  at  Mount  Ver- 
non  during  Washington's  lifetime 


136      GOVERNMENT    OF  THE   CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 

nineteenth  century,  kerosene  lamps  gradually  superseded 
those  in  which  the  animal  oil  was  used.  This  was  a  great 
improvement  over  the  "  tallow  dips  "  of  the  earlier  period, 
but  it  was  scarcely  as  radical  a  change  as  that  brought 
about  by  the  introduction  of  gas.  When  that  vaporous 
medium  of  illumination  was  introduced  the  people  regarded 
it  with  profound  distrust.  They  considered  it  a  "  highly 
dangerous  and  combustible  compound."  The  feeling  was 
so  general  that  when  a  gas  company  was  organized  in  New 
York  City,  in  1824,  for  the  purpose  of  piping  gas  into  the 
residences,  the  citizens  would  have  none  of  it.  The  presi- 
dent of  the  company,  Samuel  Leggitt,  was  living  in  a  fine 
^colonial  mansion  on  Cherry  Street,  within  a  door  or  two 
of  where  George  Washington  resided  while  New  York 
City  was  the  federal  capital.  In  order  to  overcome  the 
prejudice  against  the  gas  he  had  it  piped  into  all  parts  of 
his  own  residence,  which  he  kept  brilliantly  lighted  every 
night  for  several  weeks.  He  invited  everybody  to  come 
and  see  the  light  which  the  gas  produced.  By  this  prac- 
tical demonstration  he  overcame  the  objections  to  it, 
but  it  was  many  years  before  it  came  into  general  use. 
When  the  wonderful  power  of  electricity  began  to  be 
known,  between  1880  and  1890,  and  electric  lights  were 
being  introduced  into  all  parts  of  the  country,  it  was  pre- 
dicted that  electricity  would  entirely  supplant  gas.  But 
this  has  not  been  the  case;  every  year  the  demand  for 
artificial  light  increases,  and  seemingly  gas  remains  in 
as  much  favor  as  its  more  recent  competitor.' 

The  Department  of  Water  Supply,  Gas,  and  Electricity. 
The  last  chapter  told  of  the  work  it  requires  to  supply 
New  York  City  with  water.  The  department  which  has 


FIG.  94.    Some  Sky  Scrapers 
'37 


138   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

charge  of  the  water  supply  also  has  charge  of  lighting  the 
city,  and  you  will  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that  it  alone 
employs  several  thousand  people.  At  its  head  is  a  commis- 
sioner who  is  appointed  by  the  mayor  at  a  salary  of  seven 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars  per  year.  The  main  office 
is  in  Park  Row  Building,  Manhattan,  and  each  of  the  other 
boroughs  has  a  branch  office.  These  branch  offices  are 
in  charge  of  deputy  commissioners,  who  are  appointed  by 
the  commissioner,  and  who  have  control  of  all  matters 
pertaining  to  the  department  in  their  respective  boroughs. 
The  commissioner  is  responsible  for  the  work  of  his 
bureau.  Besides  the  duties  involved  in  supplying  the  city 
with  water,  he  must  see  not  only  that  it  is  properly  lighted 
but  also  that  all  electrical  plants  are  so  conducted  that  they 
do  not  endanger  the  lives  of  citizens.  The  department  also 
watches  the  electric  and  gas  lights  installed  for  the  city 
by  private  companies.  As  the  gas  must  be  of  standard 
quality,  it  is  tested  at  least  once  every  month.  If  on  three 
occasions  it  is  found  to  be  below  the  required  standard, 
the  city  fines  the  gas  company  one  hundred  dollars.  Elec- 
tric and  gas  meters  are  similarly  inspected.  All  meters 
found  to  be  of  the  proper  kind  and  accurate  in  report  are 
stamped  with  the  inspector's  name  and  the  date  of  the 
inspection.  If  a  citizen  thinks  there  is  anything  wrong 
with  the  meter  on  his  premises,  and  that  he  is  paying  more 
for  lighting  than  he  should,  he  can  write  a  letter  to  the 
state  inspector  of  meters  and  have  his  meter  inspected 
in  the  presence  of  some  member  of  the  lighting  company 
and  himself.  But  if  it  is  found  accurate,  the  citizen 
.who  requested  the  inspection  must  pay  for  the  expense 
attending  it. 


THE  BUREAU  OF  GAS  AND   ELECTRICITY 


139 


Lighting  the  City  at  the  Present  Time.  Let  the  pupil  go 
up  to  the  roof  of  his  home  some  evening,  and,  after  looking 
as  far  as  his  eye  can  reach  in  every  direction,  let  him  try 
to  calculate  how  many  street  lights  are  in  range  of  his 
vision.  From  this  let  him  estimate  how  many  public 
lamps  there  are  in 
the  streets  and  parks 
of  New  York  City. 
Unless  he  makes  a 
very  large  estimate 
he  will  miss  his  cal- 
culation, for  there 
are  about  seventy- 
five  thousand  public 
lamps  on  the  thor- 
oughfares. This 
single  item  will  give 
him  an  idea  of  what 
an  immense  under- 
taking it  is  to  light 
the  metropolis. 
Where  a  century  ago 
it  was  a  simple  pro- 

.,_,       ,  FIG.  915.   City  Lamp-Post 

cess,  now,  with  the 

hundreds  of  miles  of  streets  which  extend  through  the 
city,  the  "  sky-scraping"  business  blocks,  and  the  thousands 
of  private  residences  and  tenements,  it  has  become  one  of 
the  greatest  undertakings  of  the  corporation.  Underneath 
the  surface  of  the  ground,  throughout  the  five  boroughs, 
is  a  perfect  network  of  gas  pipes  and  electric  wires. 
There  are,  in  fact,  more  miles  of  them  than  there  are 


140  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


of  the  water  mains,  and  it  will  be  recalled  that  there  are 
more  than  one  thousand  miles  of  those. 

What  is  the  source  of  all  the  gas  and  electricity  re- 
quired ?  The  city  itself  does  not  own  any  gas  factories  or 
electric  plants ;  they  are  the  property  of  private  individ- 
uals and  companies.  There  are  between  twenty  and  thirty 
such  gas  factories,  with  about  a  third  as  many  electric 

plants.  It  costs  the 
corporation  more 
than  three  million 
dollars  annually  to 
light  the  public 
thoroughfares  and 
public  buildings. 

Public  Lamps  in 
the  Parks.  Have  the 
pupils  noticed  that 
the  light  in  many 
of  the  lamps  in  the 
parks  has  a  different 
appearance  from  the 
light  in  the  street 
lamps  ?  This  is  because  in  some  of  the  lamps  naphtha  is 
burned  instead  of  gas.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  it  was 
found  that  the  use  of  gas  is  injurious  to  the  trees  and  foli- 
age. In  spite  of  the  greatest  care  gas  pipes  underneath 
the  ground  sometimes  break.  When  this  happens  the  gas 
escapes  and,  where  such  a  break  occurs,  the  trees  and 
shrubbery  near  it  die,  for  illuminating  gas  will  destroy 
vegetable  life  just  as  it  does  human  life.  To  prevent  that, 
the  department  is  replacing  the  gas  lamps  in  the  parks 
with  naphtha  lamps,  as  rapidly  as  is  practicable. 


FIG.  96.    A  Gasometer 


THE  BUREAU   OF  GAS  AND  ELECTRICITY      141 

The  Electrical  Bureau.  The  duty  of  the  Electrical  Bureau 
of  the  department  is  to  guard  the  city  from  the  dangers 
attending  the  use  of  electricity.  The  need  for  this  bureau 
is  apparent  when  one  stops  to  think  of  the  vast  amount  of 
electrical  power  generated  and  in  use  in  the  five  boroughs. 
The  Metropolitan  Railway,  whose  surface  lines  span  all 
sections  of  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx,  has  its  own  pro- 
ducing plant  of  eleven-thousand-volt  power;  the  New  York 


FIG.  97.    A  Scene  in  Riverside  Park 

Edison  Company  carries  numberless  electric  cables,  with  a 
producing  power  of  over  six  thousand  volts  ;  the  Fifty-ninth 
Street  power  house  of  the  Interborough  Company  has  a 
producing  plant  greater  than  either  of  the  other  two.  In 
addition  to  these  there  are  more  than  twenty-five  thousand 
dynamos  in  the  city,  and  more  than  three  hundred  thousand 
arc  lights,  and  hundreds  of  miles  of  electric  wires  are  laid 
each  year  in  its  streets  and  houses.  The  bureau  has  been 
placing  safeguards  about  all  this  electricity  ever  since  it  was 


142   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


established  in  1 897.  At  that  time  certain  sections  of  Broad- 
way, even  as  far  north  as  Fifty-ninth  Street,  was  a  close 
network  of  overhead  wires,  a  continuous  menace  to  the  life 
of  man  and  beast  on  the  streets  below.  Now  there  is  not 

an  overhead  wire 
between  Houston 
Street  and  Harlem, 
and  the  number  in 
the  lower  part  of  the 
city  has  been  greatly 
lessened.  Eventually 
all  the  overhead  wires 
will  be  placed  under- 
ground. 

Every  company  and 
every  man  that  lays  an 
electric  wire  in  New 
York  City  must  have 
a  properly  signed 
license  from  the 
Bureau  of  Electricity 
of  the  department. 
The  bureau  keeps  a 
large  force  of  inspect- 
ors whose  only  duty 
is  to  watch  electric  plants,  cables,  and  wires,  to  see  that 
the  city  regulations  in  regard  to  them  are  obeyed.  Two 
dozen  or  more  of  these  inspectors  spend  their  time  on  the 
roofs  of  buildings  in  order  to  prevent  "  pirates,"  that  is 
persons  without  licenses,  from  surreptitiously  laying  wires 
for  telephones,  electric  lights,  and  other  devices,  from  roof 


FIG.  98.    One  of  the  Older  Schoolhouses 
of  Manhattan 


THE  BUREAU   OF  GAS  AND  ELECTRICITY       143 

to  roof.  Another  set  of  inspectors  watches  the  hotels, 
theaters,  and  large  public  buildings,  to  see  that  the  elec- 
trical appliances  in  them  are  kept  in  proper  condition. 

The  Third  Rail.  Have  you  noticed  on  the  roadbed  of  the 
elevated  railways  in  Manhattan  an  object  that  seems  to  be  a 
wooden  rail  running  parallel  with  the  traces  ?  This  wooden 
rail  protects  what  is  known  as  the  "  third  rail."  The  third 
rail  carries  the  electric  power  for  propelling  the  elevated 
trains.  The  wooden  rail  is  higher  and  larger  than  the  steel 
one,  and  thus  in  crossing  the  tracks  the  danger  of  touching 
the  latter  is  greatly  lessened.  Should  a  workman  happen 
to  touch  the  third  rail,  he  would  receive  a  severe  shock, 
which,  while  it  might  not  kill  him  outright,  would  be  very 
apt  to  throw  him  over  from  the  great  height  of  the  roadbed 
into  the  streets  below.  A  few  years  ago  this  third  rail  was 
left  uncovered  throughout  Manhattan,  —  as  it  still  is  in 
Brooklyn, —  but  through  the  efforts  of  the  Bureau  of  Elec- 
tricity it  was  finally  protected.  These  are  but  a  few  of  the 
many  safeguards  which  this  bureau  puts  around  the  use  of 
electricity  in  the  city. 

Summary.  In  the  early  days  of  the  Dutch  colonization  of  New 
Amsterdam  candlelight  was  used  in  the  homes  and  the  streets  were 
lighted  by  a  very  unique  method.  The  introduction  of  oil,  gas,  and 
electricity  successively  revolutionized  -the  methods  of  lighting  the  city. 
The  water  supply  and  the  lighting  of  New  York  City  are  under  the 
same  administrative  department.  This  department  is  supervised  by 
a  commissioner,  who  has  control  of  all  property  connected  with  the 
water  supply  and  is  responsible  for  the  lighting  of  the  city.  The 
department  has  a  large  number  of  inspectors,  some  of  whom  guard 
the  lives  of  citizens  from  the  dangers  engendered  by  the  use  of  so 
much  electricity.  Naphtha  and  electric  lights  as  well  as  gas  are  used 
in  the  public  parks. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


THE  POLICE  DEPARTMENT 

The  Army  of  Public  Safety.    "  Somebody  's  hurt  !  Some- 
body 's   hurt  !    There  's  been  a  runaway  and   somebody  's 

hurt  !  "  The  words  fly  from  lip 
to  lip  in  the  crowded  city  street, 
and  how  quickly  a  surging  mass 
of  excited  people  gather  around 
the  prostrate  form  of  the  unfor- 
tunate man  who  has  been  thrown 
from  the  wrecked  carriage. 

Every  one  suggests  something 
which  should  be  done,  but  no 
one  does  anything  until  a  broad- 
shouldered  man  pushes  his  way 
authoritatively  through  the 
crowd  and  raises  the  man  in  his 
arms,  and  when  a  few  moments 
later  a  black-covered  wagon 
dashes  up,  he  assists  the  attend- 
ant, who  springs  from  the  convey- 
ance, to  lift  the  man  in  ;  and  then 
as  they  drive  away  he  disperses 
the  crowd  with  the  stern  com- 

Move  On  !  " 


FIG.  99.    A  Patrolman  on  Duty 

Who  is  the  man  who  seemed  to  have  so  much  authority  ? 
He  is  tall  and  broad-shouldered,  wears  a  blue  uniform  with 

144 


THE    POLICE   DEPARTMENT 


brass  buttons,  and  his  head  is  covered  with  a  blue  helmet. 
Yes,  you  have  guessed  correctly.  He  is  a  patrolman,  or  a 
policeman,  as  we  call  him  more  familiarly.  He  is  a  member 
of  what  might  be  termed  New  York  City's  army  of  public 
safety,  the  police  force.  It  is  a  large  army  now,  number- 
ing over  eight  thou- 
sand ;  and  this  chap- 
ter will  tell  you  how 
it  became  so  large, 
and  what  it  is. 

How  New  York 
City's  Police  Force 
has  Grown.  During 
the  days  of  Dutch 
colonization  at  Fort 
Amsterdam  there 
was  not  much  neces- 
sity for  a  police  force 
except  to  resist  an 
Indian  outbreak. 
The  colonists  made 
common  cause  when 
that  occurred,  any  or 
all  of  them  coming 
to  the  rescue.  HOW- 


FIG.  100.    Grant's  Monument,  Brooklyn 


ever,  as  the  colony  grew  a  few  men  were  appointed  as  burgher 
corps,  or  guards,  whose  duty  was  to  act  as  night  watchmen. 
The  regulations  of  the  little  hamlet  required  that  no  person 
should  be  on  the  street  at  night  after  the  bell  at  the  fort 
rang  for  nine  o'clock,  at  which  hour  all  good  burghers  were 
supposed  to  be  in  bed  ;  and  that  the  burgher  corps  should 


146   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

not  only  call  the  hours  of  the  night  on  the  street  corners 
but  should  "  proclaim  the  season  of  the  weather." 

The  Beginnings  of  the  Present  Police  System.  When  the 
town  grew  larger  The  Rattle  Watch,  composed  of  from 
four  to  six  men  who  also  did  night  duty,  followed  the 
burgher  guard.  In  1665  the  first  "concierge,"  or  high 
constable,  was  appointed,  an  official  at  one  time  of  such 
importance  that  he  named  the  colony's  magistrates.  There 
was  also  what  was  termed  The  Corporal's  Guard,  which 
seems  to  have  been  a  little  body  of  men  who  watched  to 
see  that  the  Indians  did  not  surprise  the  fort ;  but  one  of 
their  duties,  we  are  told,  was  to  parade  the  streets  on  "  the 
mornings  of  the  Sabbath  days,  armed  with  their  staves  to 
preserve  quiet  during  the  hours  of  divine  service."  In  the 
latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  Dongan  Charter 
introduced  several  features  of  the  present  police  system. 
It  provided  for  one  sheriff,  one  high  constable,  several  sub- 
constables,  and  one  marshal.  The  constables  were  required 
to  "  make  a  presentment  of  all  such  persons  as  shall  neglect 
or  refuse  to  clean  their  streets,  and  of  all  such  as  in  any 
way  break  the  Holy  Sabbath,  or  commit  other  misdeeds." 

The  Montgomerie  Charter  of  1730  provided  for  a  sheriff, 
a  high  constable,  and  fifteen  other  constables,  who  were 
assigned  to  the  various  city  wards.  Until  after  the  Revo- 
lution the  provision  of  this  charter  controlled  the  system 
of  policing  the  town.  When  the  federal  government  be- 
came established  the  State  Committee  of  Appointment 
named  the  city  officers.  Two  justices  of  the  peace  were 
appointed,  one  of  whom  had  to  be  in  his  office  every  morn- 
ing to  try  cases.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  police 
court.  In  1 80 1  the  city  was  divided  into  three  police 


THE   POLICE  DEPARTMENT 


147 


districts,  and  from  that  time  forward  the  number  of  police 
courts  increased.  In  1836  the  police  force  was  enlarged  by 
the  addition  of  many  patrolmen.  Until  1837  the  patrol- 
men had  been  on  duty  only  during  the  night  hours,  but  by 
that  time  the  city  was  growing  so  rapidly  that  the  council 
decided  that  it  needed  the  protection  of  the  officers  during 
the  daylight  as  well  as  during  the  darkness,  and  for  the  first 


FIG.  101.   The  Palm  Building  of  the  Zoological  Garden 

time  they  began  patrolling  the  streets  during  the  daylight 
hours.  It  was  then  also  that  station  houses  were  first  opened. 
In  1857  tne  police  force  was  transferred  from  city  to 
state  control,  and  the  governor  appointed  a  Board  of 
Metropolitan  Police.  The  force  was  then  organized  into  a 
department  quite  similar  to  the  present  one.  The  next 
year  the  Pension  Bureau  was  established,  which  has  since 
become  so  important  that  each  commissioner,  when  he 
takes  the  office,  must  give  a  hundred-thousand-dollar  bond 
for  the  safe-keeping  of  the  pension  fund.  The  state 


148   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

legislature  established  the  Pension  Bureau  in  recognition  of 
the  bravery  of  the  members  of  the  department.  It  is  now 
maintained  by  certain  moneys  which  the  city  sets  aside 
for  it,  together  with  two  per  cent  of  the  salaries  of  all 
the  members  of  the  force.  The  state  retained  control  of 
the  department  until  January  i,  1870,  and  then  the  city 
objected  so  seriously  that  it  once  more  came  under  city 
control.  From  that  time  until  the  present  city  charter 
went  into  effect,  in  1901,  it  remained  in  charge  of  four 
commissioners.  The  charter  provided  that  one  commis- 
sioner should  succeed  to  the  duties  of  the  board  of  four, 
but  with  the  provision  that  he  should  have  the  power  to 
appoint  three  deputies  to  help  perform  the  work  of  the 
former  four  commissioners. 

The  Duties  of  .the  Police  Commissioner.  Down  on  Mul- 
berry Street  in  Manhattan  is  the  main  office  of  the 
department,  and  there  are  branch  offices  under  deputy 
commissioners  in  each  of  the  other  boroughs.  The  police 
commissioner,  the  man  who  is  at  the  head  of  this  big  army 
of  public  safety,  is  appointed  by  the  mayor  at  a  salary  of 
seven  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  per  year.  It  is  he  who 
fixes  the  number  and  boundaries  of  the  police  precincts, 
and  under  civil  service  regulations  he  may  appoint  almost 
all  the  people  who  are  in  the  department.  With  the  au- 
thority of  certain  city  officials,  called  the  Commissioners  of 
the  Sinking  Fund,  who  have  charge  of  a  great  deal  of  the 
city's  money,  the  police  commissioner  purchases  everything 
for  the  department.  He  establishes  and  furnishes  the  sta- 
tion houses  and  buys  the  patrol  wagons  and  horses,  which 
you  see  rush  through  the  streets^when  there  has  been  an 
arrest  or  an  accident.  He  makes  the  promotions  in  the 


THE  POLICE   DEPARTMENT 


149 


department  from  an  eligible  list  furnished  by  the  civil 
service  commission.  The  names  are  sent  him  in  the  order 
in  which  they  rank  on  the  list,  and  he  must  appoint  at  least 
three  out  of  every  five  of  the  men  whose  names  are  thus 
presented  to  him.  If  an  officer  performs  a  brave  deed  while 
on  duty,  it  stands  to  his  credit  for  promotion. 

The  Police  Inspectors.    Each  one  of  the  patrolmen,  as 
well  as  the  officers  of  the  police  force,  is  assigned  to  spe- 


"FiG.  1 02.   Interior  of  a  Police  Station 

cific  duty,  and  for  this  reason  New  York  City  is  divided 
into  sections  called  police  precincts.  The  men  who  have 
the  highest  positions  in  the  force  are  the  police  inspectors. 
Each  inspector  is  in  charge  of  a  district  which  includes 
several  precincts,  and  he  is  responsible  for  the  law  and 
order  in  the  territory  to  which  he  is  assigned.  In  each  pre- 
cinct there  is  a  station  house,  and  the  inspector  sees  that 


150  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

it,  as  well  as  every  other  building  in  his  district  belonging 
to  the  department,  is  kept  in  good  condition.  He  must  be 
at  his  office  every  morning  to  receive  the  reports  of  the 
captains  ;  he  keeps  a  record  of  everything  that  concerns  his 
work,  and  makes  regular  reports  of  it  to  the  commissioner. 
He  is  the  officer  who  preserves  peace  at  the  polling  places 
on  election  days. 

The  Captains.  The  captains  0f  the  police  force  rank  next 
to  the  inspectors.  Every  morning  they  go  to  the  station 
houses,  call  the  roll,  and  assign  the  officers  for  the  day  to 
their  different  posts  of  duty.  It  is  quite  an  imposing  mili- 
tary sight  to  see  a  captain  of  police  send  out  the  platoons 
of  patrolmen,  the  men  in  their  bright  uniforms  marching 
away  in  well-regulated  companies.  But  all  that  the  captains 
have  to  do  is  not  quite  as  military  as  that.  They  have 
charge  of  the  precincts  and  the  station  houses  and  must 
keep  all  records  of  them.  They  also  inspect  junk  shops, 
second-hand  shops,  pawnbrokers'  shops,  and  intelligence 
offices  in  the  city,  because  it  has  been  found  that  dishonest 
persons  use  these  places  to  deliver  stolen  goods,  and  for 
other  bad  purposes.  In  the  same  way  the  captains  of  police 
raid  the  gambling  places,  and  articles  found  in  them  are 
taken  to  the  police  headquarters  and  destroyed.  They  also 
have  charge  of  the  station-house  libraries,  which  are  main- 
tained for  the  patrolmen.  In  their  daily  reports  to  police 
headquarters  they  specify  all  cases  of  contagious  diseases 
in  their  precincts. 

The  Sergeants  and  Other  Officers.  The  officers  who  come 
next  to  the  captains  are  the  sergeants,  and  it  is  their  duty 
to  take  the  captains'  places  whenever  the  latter  are  absent. 
They  are  the  officers  who  stay  at  the  desks  in  the  station 


THE  POLICE  DEPARTMENT  151 

houses  or  patrol  the  precincts  to  see  that  under  officers 
are  doing  their  duty.  They  are  the  instructors  in  the 
schools  maintained  in  the  station  houses,  where  the  patrol- 
men are  taught  how  to  become  efficient  in  the  service. 
Next  to  the  sergeants  are  officers  called  roundsmen.  Their 
duty  is  to  stay  on  the  streets  in  order  to  see  that  the 
patrolmen  are  faithfully  watching  the  posts  at  which  they 
are  stationed.  It  is  the  roundsmen  who  take  immediate 
charge  when  a  fire  breaks  out,  in  order  to  protect  property 
and  to  assist  the  firemen  until  the  arrival  of  a  ranking 


FIG.  103.   Policemen  on  Horseback 

officer.  Besides  the  officers  who  have  been  named  there  are 
in  the  force  a  superintendent  of  telegraph,  surgeons,  boiler 
inspectors,  doormen,  battery  men,  and  also  police  matrons. 
The  surgeons  take  care  of  the  patrolmen  without  charge 
when  they  are  sick.  They  also  treat  the  people  who  are 
arrested  when  they  are  injured  or  ill.  The  patrolmen  enter 
the  force  at  a  salary  of  eight  hundred  dollars  per  year, 
and,  at  the  expiration  of  five  years,  by  efficient  service  can 
advance  to  a  yearly  salary  of  fourteen  hundred  dollars. 

The  Telephone  and  Telegraph  Bureau.  All  of  the  offi- 
cers of  the  Police  Department  make  daily  reports  of  their 
movements  while  on  duty.  These  reports  are  sent  to  the 


152   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

headquarters  in  Mulberry  Street,  from  whence  the  work  of 
the  force  is  directed  and  the  orders  sent  out  through  the 
Telephone  and  Telegraph  Bureau.  This  bureau  occupies 
the  ground  floor  of  the  headquarters.  It  contains  a  telephone 
switchboard  at  which  a  corps  of  operators  receive  and 
send  messages  day  and  night.  Through  this  bureau  the 
commissioner  and  his  assistants  are  kept  in  constant  touch 
with  every  district,  precinct,  and  station  house  in  the  city. 
If  a  fire  breaks  out  in  any  part  of  the  city,  the  patrolman 
on  duty  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  fire  hurries  to  the  near- 
est fire  box  and  sends  in  an  alarm.  From  there  he  rushes 
to  the  nearest  patrol  box  and  notifies  his  precinct,  where, 
in  turn,  the  Telephone  and  Telegraph  Bureau  is  immedi- 
ately informed  of  the  fire.  Almost  before  the  words  are 
over  the  wire  the  inspectors  are  telephoning  instructions 
to  the  station  houses  in  the  vicinity  of  the  fire,  and  police- 
men are  hurried  to  the  scene  of  the  disaster.  If  it  proves 
to  be  a  great  fire,  the  orders  are  sent  from  headquarters  to 
other  policemen  in  that  part  of  the  city.  Or  if  a  murder 
or  a  robbery  is  committed  and  the  criminal  escapes,  a 
description  of  him  is  telephoned  to  headquarters,  and  from 
there  sent  to  every  station  house  in  the  city.  Before  the 
captains  of  police  send  out  the  platoons  of  patrolmen  they 
read  to  them  the  description  of  the  criminal,  and  within  a 
short  time  all  of  the  patrolmen  on  duty  are  on  the  lookout 
for  him.  If  any  one  is  hurt  or  taken  sick  in  the  street,  a 
patrolman  goes  to  a  near-by  patrol  box  and  notifies  the 
superintendent  of  telegraph  ;  within  a  few  minutes  a  patrol 
wagon  is  on  the  spot.  All  precincts  are  provided  with 
patrol  wagons,  and  there  are  more  than  five  hundred  patrol 
boxes  on  the  lamp-posts  of  the  city.  All  of  the  great 


THE   POLICE  DEPARTMENT 


153 


banks  in  the  city,  the  exchanges,  and  the  public  buildings 
are  connected  with  the  police  precincts  in  which  they 
are  located.  If,  out  of  office  hours,  an  attempt  is  made 
to  open  the  doors  of  a  safe  in  one  of  these  buildings,  an 
alarm  is  sounded  instantly  in  the  office  of  the  station  house 
of  the  precinct.  Almost  as  quickly  the  patrolmen  on  the 
beat  in  the  vicinity  are  notified,  and  they  speedily  surround 


FIG.  104.   A  Patrol  Wagon 

the  building  and  prevent  any  one  within  from  escaping. 
In  all  the  great  city  but  little  which  needs  the  attention 
of  the  police  force  can  occur  without  being  known  almost 
immediately  at  headquarters,  and,  through  its  telephone 
system,  at  all  its  branch  offices. 

Other  Bureaus.  It  would  seem  impossible  for  anything 
to  go  amiss  in  the  city  of  New  York  with  so  many  bureaus 
in  the  Police  Department  to  look  after  the  public  welfare. 
We  will  now  see  what  some  of  them  do.  Perhaps  that  one 


154  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

which  would  interest  the  boys  and  girls  most  is  the  Bureau 
for  Lost  Children.  It  is  in  charge  of  a  police  matron,  who 
lives  on  the  upper  floor  in  the  headquarters  building.  Any 
little  child  lost  in  the  city  and  found  wandering  on  the 
streets  by  the  patrolmen  is  taken  to  the  matron's  rooms 
and  there  cared  for  until  claimed  by  relatives.  Another 
bureau  looks  after  grown  people  who  are  reported  miss- 
ing, and  still  another  hunts  up  the  boys  and  girls,  and 
sometimes  older  people,  who  run  away  from  their  homes. 
There  is  a  bureau  which  has  several  boats  manned  with 
policemen  in  New  York  harbor.  The  men  in  these  boats 
watch  for  fires  which  may  break  out  in  the  harbor,  and 
are  known  as  the  harbor  police.  They  also  try  to  rescue 
any  who  chance  to  fall  into  the  water.  The  Bureau  of 
Engineers  has  expert  engineers,  who  inspect  all  of  the  steam 
boilers  in  the  city,  as  no  factory  or  business  house  can  run 
a  steam  engine  without  a  certificate  from  the  department. 

Then  there  is  a  bureau  which  devotes  its  entire  time  to 
answering  letters  and  inquiries  about  persons  who  have 
committed  crime  or  who  have  wandered  away  from  their 
homes.  There  is  a  detective  bureau,  which  has  a  large 
force  of  officers  who  wear  civilian  clothing  and  who  ferret 
out  places  where  the  law  is  broken,  and  find  the  people 
who  break  it.  Besides  all  of  these  there  is  a  bureau  which 
issues  licenses  for  certain  business  enterprises  and  for 
certain  occasions.  Did  you  know  that  a  funeral  procession 
in  New  York  City  could  not  be  accompanied  by  a  band  of 
music  unless  it  had  secured  a  license  from  this  bureau 
of  the  Police  Department  ? 

Other  Features  of  the  Department.  The  department  has 
a  prison  ward  at  Bellevue  Hospital,  where  persons  who 


THE   POLICE  DEPARTMENT  155 

have  been  hurt  in  the  streets  can  be  cared  for.  Stationed 
in  the  city  courts  are  a  squad  of  patrolmen  to  assist  the 
magistrates,  in  any  way  needed,  with  the  prisoners  who  are 
there  under  arrest.  There  are  also  patrolmen  who  are 
mounted  on  horseback  for  suburban  duty,  and  still  others 


FIG.  105.   A  Mounted  Policeman  on  Suburban  Duty 

are  provided  with  bicycles  and  motor  cycles,  to  stop 
runaway  horses  and  to  prevent  too  fast  driving  or  auto- 
mobiling.  There  are  mounted  men  who  regulate  street 
traffic,  and  patrolmen,  both  on  foot  and  horseback,  who 
are  assigned  to  the  city  parks  to  maintain  order  there.  At 
each  station  house  there  are  two  police  matrons,  who  have 
charge  of  women  who  are  arrested. 


156  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

Summary.  A  police  force  is  necessary  because  of  the  elements  of 
danger  in  a  city.  The  present  system  in  New  York  City,  with  more 
than  eight  thousand  patrolmen,  is  a  development  out  of  the  old  Dutch 
and  English  customs.  The  burgher  corps,  Rattle  Watch,  and  Cor- 
poral's Guard  were  details  of  men  who  did  police  duty  during  colonial 
days.  Until  after  the  Revolution  the  provisions  of  the  Montgomerie 
Charter  regulated  the  police  system.  When  the  federal  government 
became  established  the  State  Committee  of  Appointment  named  the 
city  officers,  and  at  about  that  time  the  police  court  came  into  exist- 
ence. The  police  force  has  been  under  state  and  then  city  control 
several  times  in  its  history,  but  since  1870  it  has  been  under  the  juris- 
diction of  the  latter.  By  the  charter  of  1901  the  executive  of  the 
Police  Department  is  the  commissioner,  who  is  responsible  for  the 
order  of  the  city.  Over  each  police  district  is  an  inspector ;  the  next 
ranking  officers  are  the  captain,  the  sergeant,  and  the  roundsmen. 
The  work  of  the  department  is  directed  through  the  Telephone  and 
Telegraph  Bureau,  located  at  the  police  headquarters  in  Mulberry 
Street.  In  the  department  there  are  many  other  bureaus  with  specific 
duties. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE  FIRE   DEPARTMENT 

"Fire!  fire!"  What  boy  has  not  heard  that  cry  with 
mingled  feelings  of  pleasure  and  alarm?  And  who  has  not 
run  to  a  fire  ?  How  exciting  to  join  the  hurrying  throng, 
guided  by  the  sound  of  clattering  hoofs  or  the  sharp  clang 
of  the  gong !  When  one  reaches  the  scene  he  is  thrilled 
by  both  the  spectacle  itself  and  the  daring  work  of  the 
firemen.  In  this  chapter  you  will  learn  how  the  Fire 
Department  of  New  York  City  was  established  and  grew 
to  its  present  size,  and  how  it  is  conducted. 

The  Earliest  Fire  Regulations.  In  colonial  times  the  fire 
regulations  for  the  little  city  were  very  simple.  The  Dutch 
houses  had  thatched  roofs  and  wooden  chimneys,  which 
easily  caught  fire.  In  1648  an  ordinance  was  passed  pro- 
hibiting the  building  of  new  wooden  chimneys  between 
Fort  Amsterdam  and  fresh  water.  If  a  fire  occurred 
through  neglect  of  a  chimney,  the  owner  had  to  pay  a  fine, 
the  amount  of  which  was  used  to  maintain  fire  ladders, 
hooks,  and  buckets.  Four  wardens  were  appointed  by  the 
Dutch  government  to  inspect  chimneys  and  enforce  this 
ordinance.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  inspection  for 
the  prevention  of  fires.  The  chimney  fine  has  come  down 
to  our  own  time.  If  a  fire  occurs  through  a  defective  flue, 
the  tenant  of  to-day  must  pay  a  fine  of  five  dollars. 

Fire  Buckets  and  the  First  Fire  Company.  In  the  early 
days  there  were  no  fire  companies;  in  case  of  fire  every 

'57 


158   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


man  helped  his  neighbor.  In  1657  two  hundred  and  fifty 
leathern  fire  buckets,  with  some  fire  ladders  and  hooks, 
were  brought  from  Holland.  Eight  men,  called  the  "  Prowl- 
ers," were  appointed  to  walk  the  streets  from  nine  o'clock 
at  night  until  morning  drumbeat,  to  sound  the  alarm  if  a 
fire  broke  out.  Buckets  of  water,  three  upon  each  door- 
step and  ten  at  the  town  pump,  furnished  the  water 

supply.  After  the  English 
took  possession  of  the  col- 
ony, when  a  fire  broke  out 
the  night  watchman  knocked 
upon  the  doors,  crying, 
"  Throw  out  your  buckets." 
These  were  thrown  from  the 
passageways  where  they 
were  kept,  their  owners 
quickly  following,  and  two 
lines  were  formed,  reaching 
to  the  nearest  well.  Full 
buckets  were  passed  along 
one  line,  which  came  back  to 
be  refilled  along  the  other. 

Origin  of  the  Fire  Department.  In  1730  the  city  was 
divided  into  wards,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  by  the 
Board  of  Aldermen  to  procure  from  London,  "  by  the  first 
conveniency,  two  of  Mr.  Newsham's  new  inventions  for 
putting  out  fires,  which  have  suction  leather  pipes  and  caps, 
and  other  material  belonging  thereto."  The  two  wonder- 
ful inventions  arrived  by  the  good  ship  Beaver  in  the  fol- 
lowing spring,  and  were  given  a  place  of  honor  in  the  city 
hall.  They  were  pumped  by  hand  at  one  end  to  force  the 


FIG.  106.    A  Colonial  Fire  Bucket 


THE   FIRE  DEPARTMENT 


159 


water  through  a  short  hose  at  the  other,  and  were  under 
the  special  care  of  the  aldermen,  who,  with  the  mayor, 
assumed  control  of  fires.  In  those  days  all  citizens  lent 
a  helping  hand  to  put  out  fires,  but  in  1736  an  engine 
house  was  built,  and  the  next  year  twenty-four  able-bodied 
men  were  appointed  to  operate  the  engines.  For  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  years  the  city  was  served  by  volunteer 


FIG.  107.    A  Volunteer  Fire  Company  and  Engine  in  the  Middle 
of  the  Last  Century 

firemen,  and  it  was  thought  an  honor  to  belong  to  this  body. 
In  return  for  duties  which  hurried  them  from  business  in 
the  daytime,  or  from  their  beds  at  night,  the  firemen  were 
excused  from  acting  as  jurors,  militiamen,  or  constables, 
and  a  certain  amount  of  money  was  set  aside  to  maintain 
the  company.  In  Richmond  and  Queens  to-day  members 
of  volunteer  companies  still  have  these  exemptions,  and 
enjoy  the  added  privilege  of  preference  of  city  positions, 
after  passing  the  civil  service  examinations.  The  volunteer 


160   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


fire  department  continued  until  steam  fire  engines  were 
introduced  soon  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  War.  There 
were  then  four  thousand  volunteer  firemen  in  Manhattan 
alone,  and  it  was  decided  to  have  fewer  firemen  and  to  pay 
them  to  devote  their  entire  time  to  the  service.  The  state 
legislature  first  put  this  into  effect,  forming  a  paid  metro- 
politan fire  department, 
which  controlled  both 
Manhattan  and  Brook- 
lyn. A  few  years  later 
each  city  took  charge 
of  its  own  paid  depart- 
ment. 

The  Present  Fire 
Department.  The  Fire 
Department  as  now  or- 
ganized is  under  a  fire 
commissioner  appoint- 
ed by  the  mayor.  He  is 
responsible  for  putting 
out  fires,  for  seeing  that 

the  city  fire  regulations  are  followed,  and  for  managing  all 
business  of  his  department.  He  plans  the  location  of  fire 
alarms,  decides  upon  proper  uniforms  and  badges  for  the 
force,  and  receives  all  moneys  collected  by  the  depart- 
ment. His  headquarters  are  in  Manhattan.  The  boroughs 
of  The  Bronx  and  Richmond  come  under  his  supervision. 
A  deputy  is  in  charge  of  the  Brooklyn  office  and  manages 
the  affairs  of  Brooklyn  and  Queens.  The  three  bureaus 
of  this  department  are  the  Bureau  Chief  of  Department, 
Bureau  of  Combustibles,  and  Bureau  of  Fire  Marshals. 


FIG.  1 08.  A  Fire  Boat  subduing  a  Fire 
on  One  of  the  Wharves 


THE   FIRE  DEPARTMENT  l6l 

Bureau  Chief  of  Department  is  the  name  given 'to  the 
bureau  charged  with  putting  out  fires,  because  its  principal 
officer  is  called  Chief  of  Department.  Under  him  are  the 
firemen  in  their  blue  uniforms  and  helmets.  They  are  formed 
into  companies,  each  of  which  has  the  care  of  some  special 
piece  of  fire  apparatus,  as  an  engine  or  truck  wagon.  Over 
these  firemen  are  officers,  as  in  a  military  organization. 

Station  Houses  and  Fire  Apparatus.  You  have  often  looked 
through  the  doorway  of  a  fire  station  and  longed  to  enter 


FIG.  109.    Inside  View  of  a  Fire  Station 

to  examine  the  shining  engine  and  hose  wagon,  or  perhaps 
the  hook  and  ladder  or  truck  wagon.  Some  stations  have 
but  one  piece  of  apparatus,  while  others  have  several,  as 
necessity  demands.  With  the  increasing  height  of  build- 
ings fire  companies  must  have  new  apparatus  and  new 
methods  of  handling  fires.  The  hose  tower,  requiring  sev- 
eral engines  to  furnish  power,  is  used  to  throw  water  upon 
tall  buildings.  The  city  owns  a  number  of  fire  boats,  each 
of  which  patrols  a  certain  district  of  the  water  front  to 
pump  water  for  neighboring  fires.  In  the  station  houses 
members  of  the  companies  take  turns  in  acting  as  "house 


162  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

watch/'  to  see  that  this  apparatus  is  in  perfect  condition, 
to  keep  the  records,  and  to  summon  the  company  in  case 
of  a  fire  alarm. 

Fire  Alarm  and  Telegraph.  If  a  fire  should  occur  in  your 
neighborhood,  could  you  ring  in  the  alarm  ?  On  many  of 
the  lamp-posts  of  the  city  are  bright  red  alarm  boxes,  and 
these  lamp-posts  are  supplied  with  red  globes  at  night.  The 
instant  the  alarm  is  sent  from  any  one  of  these  boxes  the 
underground  telegraph  records  the  number  of  the  station 
in  the  office  of  the  Fire  Department.  The  operator  there 
sends  out  the  message,  and  the  companies  near  the  fire 
respond  to  the  call.  If  it  is  night,  the  firemen  who  sleep 
in  the  engine  houses  leap  from  their  beds  at  the  sound  of 
the  station  gong  and  jump  into  their  clothes.  They  do  not 
take  time  to  go  down  the  stairs,  but  slide  down  a  smooth 
post  through  an  opening  in  the  floor,  and  in  an  instant 
are  ready  to  spring  to  their  positions.  The  trained  horses 
have  already  dashed  to  their  places,  and  the  harness  has 
dropped  upon  their  backs  from  overhanging  hooks  and  is 
snapped  into  place.  At  the  call  of  "  Ready !  "  the  doors 
swing  back,  and  with  "  Go !  "  the  engine  or  truck  wagon 
dashes  down  the  street  with  the  gong  ringing.  The  Fire 
Department  has  the  right  of  way  before  all  other  vehicles 
except  those  carrying  United  States  mail.  Should  more 
companies  be  needed,  other  alarms  are  sent  in.  The  simul- 
taneous call,  or  "  two  nines,"  if  sent  out,  will  bring  to  the 
scene  of  a  fire  a  total  of  from  thirty  to  thirty-five  appa- 
ratus companies,  with  an  average  force  of  between  two 
hundred  and  seventy-five  and  three  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  men.  A  corps  skilled  in  the  use  of  explosives,  con- 
sisting of  a  number  of  assistant  firemen  in  each  borough, 


THE   FIRE   DEPARTMENT 


I63 


under  the  command  of  a  deputy  chief  of  department,  can 
on  a  special  call  be  brought  to  the  scene  of  a  fire  to 
demolish  buildings,  if  necessary,  by  the  use  of  explosives, 
in  order  to  prevent  the  spread  of  fire. 

Training  of  Firemen.    To  become  a  fireman  a  man  must 
be   between  the  ages  of   twenty-one  and  thirty  when  he 


FIG.  no.   Fire  Engine  rushing  to  a  Fire 

enters  the  service.  If  he  is  found  to  be  strong  physic- 
ally, of  good  character,  and  of  industrious  habits,  he 
takes  the  civil  service  examination.  Aside  from  writing, 
spelling,  and  arithmetic,  he  must  have  a  knowledge  of 
streets,  ferries,  and  buildings,  and  the  quickest  route  to 
each  of  them.  After  passing  this  examination  he  becomes 
a  fireman  on  probation.  He  spends  his  nights  in  the  fire 
station  and  his  days  in  the  drill  yards  at  headquarters.  He 


164  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

learns  how  to  fasten  a  scaling  ladder  and  how  to  climb; 
how  to  jump  from  a  height  into  a  life  net,  and  to  hold  it 
for  others ;  he  learns  the  apparatus  and  everything  con- 
nected with  it.  After  thirty  days  he  enters  the  fourth  or 
lowest  grade,  wears  the  uniform,  and  is  put  on  a  salary  of 
eight  hundred  dollars  a  year.  With  each  promotion  two 
hundred  dollars  is  added  to  his  salary  until  he  reaches  the 
first  grade.  With  the  next  promotion  he  becomes  an  officer. 

Bureau  of  Combustibles.  It  is  easier  to  prevent  a  fire 
than  to  put  one  out  after  it  has  started.  To  remove  the 
cause  of  fire  is  the  work  of  the  Bureau  of  Combustibles. 
The  chief,  called  the  Inspector  of  Combustibles,  with  his 
assistants,  enforces  the  laws  relating  to  the  sale,  storage, 
and  use  of  all  materials  which  burn  easily.  For  example, 
only  a  given  quantity  of  chemicals,  explosives,  fireworks,  or 
kerosene  may  be  stored  in  the  same  building,  and  a  license 
must  be  obtained  to , sell  any  of  them.  Or,  should  a  work- 
man need  to  blast  in  digging  for  a  foundation,  he  must  show 
that  he  is  familiar  with  the  use.  of  explosives  before  he  can 
obtain  a  permit.  Any  building  where  such  goods  are  stored 
may  be  entered  to  see  if  the  laws  are  observed.  If  the 
owner  refuses  to  comply  with  the  law,  he  may  be  fined  and 
the  goods  cared  for  and  the  cost  charged  to  the  owner. 
Violations  of  the  law  are  reported  to  this  bureau. 

The  Bureau  of  Auxiliary  Fire  Appliances  and  Violations 
is  a  part  of  the  Bureau  Chief  of  Department.  Have  you 
ever  noticed  in  the  halls  of  hotels,  theaters,  schools,  or  other 
public  buildings,  bottles  in  racks,  long  metal  tubes,  hose, 
and  other  appliances  ?  These  are  to  be  used  in  case  of 
fire,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  this  bureau  to  inspect  all  public 
buildings  at  regular  intervals,  and  to  recommend  to  the 


THE   FIRE  DEPARTMENT 


165 


commissioner  what  fire  appliances  are  needed  and  where 
they  should  be  placed.  The  owner  must  then  supply  them. 
If  a  building  is  over  one  hundred  feet  high,  it  must  also  have 
a  standpipe  either  inside  or  outside.  This  is  a  tall  iron  pipe 
with  an  opening  on  each  floor  where  a  hose  may  be  attached, 
and  one  or  two  places  at  the  bottom  where  engines  may 


FIG.  in.    A  Reservoir  on  the  Roof  of  a  City  Building  for  the 
Prevention  of  Fire 

be  connected  so  as  to  pump  water  through  it.  If  a  store- 
room contains  a  great  quantity  of  material  easily  burned,  as 
cotton  or  wool,  automatic  sprinklers  or  perforated  pipes  usu- 
ally encircle  the  ceiling.  This  bureau  also  sees  that  certain 
parts  of  buildings  are  fireproof  and  that  there  are  a  sufficient 
number  of  fire  escapes.  These  must  have  easy  entrances 
and  exits,  and  must  be  kept  free  from  all  obstructions. 


166     GOVERNMENT   OF  THE   CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 

The  Bureau  of  Fire  Marshals  reports  the  number  of  fires 
in  the  city  and,  if  possible,  their  cause,  origin,  and  amount 
of  property  destroyed.  In  investigating  fires  marshals 
attempt  to  find  out  whether  they  were  caused  by  careless- 
ness or  whether  the  buildings  were  set  on  fire.  Any  one 
who  purposely  sets  a  building  on  fire  is  an  incendiary  and 
his  act  is  called  arson.  Arson  is  a  crime  punishable  by 


FlG.  112.   A  Fire  in  Winter 

imprisonment.  There  are  two  fire  marshals,  one  for  Man- 
hattan, The  Bronx,  and  Richmond,  the  other  for  Brooklyn 
and  Queens.  The  fire  marshals  also  receive  complaints 
against  firemen  who  fail  to  do  their  duty. 

Relief  Fund  and  Pensions.  A  fireman  must  be  daring  to 
rescue  people  from  burning  buildings,  and  he  must  often 
risk  his  life  to  protect  property.  For  this  reason  there  is  a 
regular  pension  system  for  members  of  the  uniformed  force 
who  become  injured.  If  a  fireman  is  partially  disabled,  he 
is  given  lighter  work  ;  if  permanently  disabled,  he  is  retired 


THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT  167 

on  not  less  than  half  pay.  In  case  of  his  death  his  widow 
and  children  receive  not  less  than  three  hundred  dollars. 
Should  his  death  occur  while  on  duty,  his  nearest  relative 
receives  annually  an  allowance  of  not  more  than  half  his 
salary.  After  twenty  years  of  continuous  service  he  can 
retire  on  half  pay. 

Summary.  The  increasing  needs  of  a  large  city  have  built  up  a 
thoroughly  organized  Fire  Department.  Certain  of  its  members  are 
constantly  on  the  alert  to  prevent  fires ;  others  see  that  auxiliary  fire 
appliances  are  provided  for  unexpected  need.  If  a  fire  breaks  out 
despite  these  precautions,  there  is  a  large  force  of  men  ready  day  or 
night  to  put  it  out.  After  this  has  been  done  still  others  investi- 
gate the  fire  to  discover  its  origin,  that  no  other  fire  may  come  from 
the  same  cause.  The  Fire  Department  is  one  of  the  fifteen  admin- 
istrative departments  of  the  municipal  government,  and  the  work  it 
performs  is  accomplished  through  three  bureaus. 


CHAPTER  XV 


TRANSPORTATION  SYSTEMS    OF   NEW  YORK   CITY 

Early  Methods  of  Transportation.  In  the  days  of  long  ago, 
when  steam  and  electricity  were  undreamed  of,  the  little 
Dutch  colony  at  New  Amsterdam  had  only  slight  communi- 
cation with  the  outside  world  and  but  comparatively  little 
with  the  hamlets  lying  on  the  Hudson  River,  or  with  the 
New  England  colonies  still  farther 
away.  Travel  was  a  serious  under- 
taking in  those  days.  The  direcktors- 
general  and  a  few  of  the  wealthiest 
of  the  burghers  had  ponderous 
coaches  drawn  by  two  or  four  horses ; 
but  usually  when  one  of  the  colonists 
had  occasion  to  travel  he  packed  his 
saddlebags  and  went  on  horseback, 
—  a  far  easier  method  of  following 
the  bridle  paths  through  the  unbro- 
ken forests  than  to  attempt  it  with 
a  coach  and  even  four  horses.  If  the 
young  people  planned  a  frolic  at  a 
country  house,  the  huge,  unwieldy  farm  ox  cart  was  called 
into  requisition,  but  the  slow  method  of  locomotion  was 
compensated  for  in  the  fun  enjoyed  by  the  wagonload  of  red- 
cheeked  girls  and  sturdy  young  men.  The  cariole  sleigh,  a 
deep-bedded  wagon  box  fastened  on  high  runners  and  drawn 
by  two  horses,  was  very  popular  in  the  winter  months. 

1 68 


FIG.  113.    An  Old 
Milestone 


TRANSPORTATION  SYSTEMS  169 

It  was  not  until  1672  that  a  mail  route  was  established 
between  New  York  City  and  Boston,  and  the  eighteenth 
century  was  several  years  old  before  one  extended  far- 
ther north  than  Boston  or  farther  south  than  Philadelphia. 
In  1753  the  British  crown  appointed  Benjamin  Franklin 
colonial  postmaster-general.  He  made  the  trip  through  the 
country  from  New  York  City  to  Boston  and  had  num- 
bered stones  erected  at  each  mile  of  the  route,  and  some 
of  these  quaint  milestones  can  still  be  seen  on  the  country 
roadsides.  He  provided  three  mails  a  week  between  New 
York  and  Philadelphia,  and  reduced  nearly  one  half  the 
time  consumed  by  the  postrider  between  New  York  City 
and  Boston.  A  few  years  later  the  post  road  was  built  from 
the  city  tavern  in  the  lower  part  of  New  Amsterdam,  up 
Broadway,  and  out  the  old  Marlborough  road  to  the  pike 
which  extended  from  Albany  to  Boston,  and  then  mail 
stages  replaced  the  postriders. 

The  introduction  of  stages  made  a  decided  revolution 
in  travel.  At  first  there  was  but  one  line,  but  gradually 
numerous  stages  were  used.  They  were  great  bulky  con- 
veyances painted  in  the  gayest  colors,  and  bore  high-sound- 
ing names,  such  as  Lady  Washington,  The  Knickerbocker, 
The  High  and  Mighty,  and  so  on.  As  the  population  grew 
and  the  town  spread  out  toward  the  northern  part  of  the 
island,  where  the  wealthy  patroons  had  their  large  estates, 
the  stages  made  daily  trips ;  and  presently  they  ran  hourly 
between  the  tavern  at  Bowling  Green  and  Greenwich 
Village,  Harlem,  and  other  near-by  settlements.  By  that 
time  public  stages,  as  well  as  private  coaches  drawn  by 
two,  four,  or  even  six  horses,  fairly  blocked  Broadway. 
In  those  simple  days  the  trip  to  Boston  in  one  of  these 


I/O   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

coaches  was  the  red-letter  event  of  a  lifetime.    Omnibuses 
were  first  used  in  New  York  City  in  1830. 

The  Beginning  of  Street  Railways  in  the  City  of  New 
York.  Not  only  in  Europe  but  also  in  the  colonies  of 
America  inventive  minds  were  trying  to  solve  the  prob- 
lem of  steam  transportation.  As  early  as  1796  John  Fitch 
successfully  sailed  a  small  steamboat  of  his  own  invention 


FIG.  114.    One  of  the  First  Street  Cars  used  in  New  York  City 
(From  an  old  photograph) 

on  Collect  Pond.  In  1807  Robert  Fulton  ran  the  Clermont 
on  the  Hudson,  and  a  few  years  afterwards  river  naviga- 
tion by  steamboats  became  a  reality.  But  steam  railway 
locomotion  was  of  much  later  introduction.  In  1829  a 
steam  locomotive  made  by  George  Stephenson,  of  Eng- 
land, was  exhibited  for  some  time  in  Water  Street,  New 
York.  The  Albany  and  Schenectady  Railway,  chartered  in 
1826,  made  its  first  trip  with  a  steam  locomotive  in 
1832.  In  1831  the  New  York  and  Harlem  Railway  was 


TRANSPORTATION   SYSTEMS 


I/I 


incorporated  for  the  purpose  of  laying  a  track  from  the 
lower  part  of  New  York  City  to  Harlem.  It  was  run  at  one 
time  as  a  horse-car  line,  and  at  another  with  steam  engines, 
and  was  the  first  railroad  in  the  city.  Under  the  former 
system  the  coaches  were  very  much  like  the  old  stages ;  they 


FIG.  115.    The  Home  of  the  Tropical  Birds  in  the  New  York 
Zoological  Park 

were  balanced  on  leather  springs  and  had  three  compart- 
ments. The  driver  sat  on  the  high  seat  overhead  and  regu- 
lated the  speed  by  the  brake  at  his  feet.  In  a  few  years 
similar  lines  were  running  through  all  the  thickly  settled  parts 
of  the  town.  Gradually,  however,  the  stagecoach  cars  were 
abandoned  and  more  modern  street  cars  took  their  place. 

Street  Railway  Franchises.    Peter  Cooper  built  the  first 
railway  steam  engine  in  America,  at  his  shop  near  Balti- 
1830.    The  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  which 


1/2   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

at  about  that  time  began  running  as  a  horse  railway,  sub- 
sequently used  the  Peter  Cooper  engine.  The  demand  for 
franchises  to  build  street  railroads  soon  after  this  became 
general  in  all  the  larger  cities  of  the  country.  In  1851  and 
1852  franchises  were  granted  for  building  horse-car  lines 
on  Sixth  and  Eighth  avenues.  A  few  years  later  tracks 
were  also  laid  on  Second,  Third,  and  Ninth  avenues.  For 
more  than  twenty  years  the  project  to  build  a  street-car 
line  on  Broadway  was  bitterly  contested.  At  one  time 
a  scheme  devised  by  unscrupulous  parties  to  obtain  the 
franchise  involved  the  Board  of  Aldermen  in  one  of  the 
most  dishonest  transactions  that  ever  disgraced  the  city. 
After  the  exposure  of  this  unhappy  affair  the  plan  to 
build  a  Broadway  road  was  dropped.  "Finally,  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  eighties  the  franchise  was  granted  and  the 
road  built.  Soon  afterward  roads  began  multiplying  in  all 
sections  of  the  city.  When  cable  power  came  into  use  it 
very  largely  supplanted  horses  as  a  means  of  locomotion. 
But  'cables  as  motive  power  were  of  short  duration  ;  within 
a  few  years  the  discovery  of  electricity  drove  the*n  from 
the  field.  It  has  so  far  superseded  all  other  power  that, 
with  the  exception  of  a  very  few  lines  which  still  use 
horses,  all  the  street  railways  of  New  York  City  are  now 
run  by  electricity.  By  a  series  of  combinations  the  surface 
roads  have  consolidated  until  almost  all  of  them  belong  to 
the  Interurban  Railway  Company. 

The  Elevated  Railway.  New  York  has  also  the  distinc- 
tion of  having  had  the  first  elevated  railway  in  the  world. 
In  1867  Charles  C.  Harvey,  the  inventor,  obtained  per- 
mission from  the  city  to  build  an  experimental  track  for 
an  elevated  cable  road  along  Greenwich  Street  from  the 


TRANSPORTATION  SYSTEMS  173 

Battery  to  Twenty-ninth  Street.  If  it  succeeded,  it  was  to 
be  extended  to  Harlem.  At  first  it  was  not  a  success,  and 
the  gaunt  track  stood  unused  in  mid-air  for  three  years.  In 
1870  the  New  York  Elevated  Railway  Company  organized 
and  began  running  trains  propelled  by  small  steam  engines 
on  this  track.  In  1875  the  Rapid  Transit  Act  passed  the 
state  legislature,  and  the  elevated  road  then  became  a  great 
success.  A  few  years  ago  the  steam  engines  were  discarded 


FIG.  116.    Section  of  the  Interborough  Elevated  Railway 

and  electricity  was  made  the  motive  power.  The  line  extends 
to  Brooklyn  and  The  Bronx,  and  it  is  but  a  matter  of  time 
until  it  will  reach  all  the  boroughs.  The  elevated  trains  do 
not  make  as  frequent  stops  as  the  surface  cars,  and  they 
can  therefore  run  at  greater  speed. 

How  and  When  the  Rapid  Transit  Commission  was  Ap- 
pointed. For  many  years  the  problem  of  interurban  railway 
transportation  has  been  one  of  the  most  serious  which  has 
confronted  the  City  of  New  York.  This  is  not  surprising,  con- 
sidering the  fact  that  the  street  railways  throughout  the  city 
carry  more  passengers  annually  than  all  the  steam  railways 


1/4  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


in  both  North  and  South  America  combined.    They  carry, 
in  round  numbers,  a  billion  paying  passengers  every  year. 

Very  soon  after  the  Civil  War  the  need  of  greater  facil- 
ity for  street  travel  in  New  York  City  became  apparent, 
and  several  plans  were  then  proposed  for  an  underground 

railway.  Finally,  in 
1868,  the  state  legis- 
lature granted  a 
charter  for  such 
a  road  to  an  organi- 
zation of  business 
men,  but  they  were 
unable  to  put  the 
project  into  execu- 
tion. Many  other 
plans  were  as  unsuc- 
cessful. In  1872  the 
first  New  York  City 
Rapid  Transit  Company  was  incorporated.  It  was  composed 
of  wealthy  New  York  men,  who  could  have  built  the  road, 
but  they  met  with  so  much  criticism  from  the  press  that 
they  dropped  the  enterprise.  Three  years  later  the  elevated 
roads  were  put  into  operation,  and,  as  for  the  next  decade 
they  supplied  the  transportation  needs,  the  project  of  the 
underground  road  passed  from  the  public  mind. 

By  1894  both  the  elevated  and  surface  roads  were 
crowded  beyond  their  carrying  capacity,  and  the  con- 
struction of  a  subway  was  again  agitated.  Winter  after 
winter  bills  for  its  construction  were  introduced  in  the 
legislature,  but  each  time  failed  of  enactment,  or  the  com- 
panies which  organized  were  unable  to  put  their  plans  into 


FIG.  117.   The  Hanging  Rock  in  the  New 
York  Zoological  Park 


TRANSPORTATION   SYSTEMS 


175 


execution.  The  late  Mr.  Abram  S.  Hewitt,  who  was  mayor 
of  the  city  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighties,  had  unlimited 
faith  in  an  underground  railway,  and  it  was  largely  through 
his  efforts  that  the  Rapid  Transit  Commission  was  created 


FIG.  118.   Some  of  the  Rock  through  which  the  Subway  was  Built 

by  the  state  legislature  in  1894.  The  governor  appointed 
a  commission  of  six  members,  with  the  mayor,  the  comp- 
troller, and  the  president  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
of  New  York  City  as  ex-officio  members. 

Powers  and  Duties  of  the  Commission.  The  commission 
was  empowered  to  take  all  preliminary  steps  and  build  an 
underground  railway  through  the  City  of  New  York.  It 
first  engaged  able  civil  engineers  to  make  surveys  through 
Manhattan  Island  and  to  prepare  plans  and  specifications. 
For  six  years  the  engineers  were  at  work  on  those  surveys, 
and  made  accurate  plans  for  the  prospective  line.  Every 


176   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

foot  of  the  intended  route  was  gone  over  with  such  care  that 
the  deep  underground  soil  of  Manhattan  was  as  familiar 
to  them  as  the  pages  of  an  open  book.  They  knew  where 
every  sewer  pipe  and  every  gas  or  electric  main  lay  along 
the  different  projected  routes.  They  knew  to  a  nicety  the 
nature  of  the  soil ;  where  rock  would  be  encountered  and 
what  kind  it  would  be;  where  sand  was  to  be  expected, 
and  where  quicksand  and  quagmire  were  to  be  overcome ; 
they  knew  also  the  exact  depth  and  characteristics  of  the 
foundations  of  all  the  buildings  near  which  the  road  would 
have  to  tunnel  or  pass  under.  It  was  the  wide  knowledge 
thus  gained  which  made  the  actual  construction  of  the 
work  so  rapid  and  attended  by  so  few  mistakes. 

Manner  in  which  the  Railway  was  Built.  The  contract  for 
the  actual  construction  of  the  railway  was  let  in  February, 
1900,  and  the  following  month  the  work  was  inaugurated 
with  impressive  ceremonies.  As  projected  by  the  Rapid 
Transit  Commission,  the  underground  road  was  to  cover 
about  twenty-one  miles,  but  during  its  construction  the  city 
decided  to  build  a  tunnel  beneath  the  East  River  and  to 
extend  the  railway  through  Brooklyn,  making  it,  when  com- 
pleted, the  longest  subway  in  the  world.  The  greater  part  of 
the  roadbed  is  through  a  subway  the  roof  of  which  is  within 
a  few  feet  of  the  surface  of  the  street.  The  minimum  depth 
of  the  roadbed  is  eighteen  feet,  but  at  some  points  it  passes 
through  tunnels  which  are  built  far  deeper  underground. 
The  greatest  depth  is  at  Washington  Heights,  where  the  sta- 
tion lies  more  than  one  hundred  feet  beneath  the  surface. 

In  building  the  subway  great  steel  ribs,  or  girders,  were 
placed  five  feet  apart  in  an  open  tunnel,  through  its  entire 
length.  Five  rows  of  steel  columns  uphold  the  subway 


TRANSPORTATION   SYSTEMS 


177 


where  four  tracks  are  laid,  and  three  rows  of  columns  are 
used  where  there  are  but  two  tracks.  The  pupils  can  see 
these  whenever  they  ride  through  the  subway.  The  columns 
uphold  massive  steel  ribs,  which,  with  concrete  masonry, 
form  the  roof  of  the  structure.  The  spaces  between  the 


FIG.  119.    Underground  Water  and  Gas  Pipes  which  had  to  be 
moved  for  the  Construction  of  the  Subway 

side  columns  are  also  filled  with  concrete  masonry,  forming 
the  ribs  of  the  tunnel,  and  the  floors  are  concreted  in  the 
same  manner.  This  method  of  building  made  the  subway 
as  strong  as  though  it  were  built  through  solid  rock. 

The  Waterproofing  Process.  During  the  construction,  as 
briefly  described  in  the  last  paragraph,  the  subway  was  com- 
pletely enveloped  with  a  system  of  waterproofing.  Out- 
side of  the  steel  and  concrete  work  it  was  covered  with  felt 


178   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


laid  in  asphalt ;  from  two  to  six  layers  were  applied  accord- 
ing to  the  conditions  of  the  surrounding  earth  or  rock  and 
the  amount  of  water  found.  Outside  of  this  waterproofing 
hollow  bricks  or  tiles  were  laid  on  the  sides  of  the  subway; 

these    served    as 

rH^p.ji..       """ •    '••'  ••^^••B       drains   to  carry  off 
_JP  .  the  ground   waters, 

as  well  as  a  protec- 
tion to  the  water- 
proofing. On  the 
roof  the  waterproof- 
ing was  protected  by 
a  thick  coating  of 
cement,  and  by  these 
combined  processes 
the  subway  was 
made  impervious  to 
water. 

TheRoadbed, 

-Fie.  1 20.   Inside  View  of  the  Subway  _  ,    _ 

Trains,  and  Street 

Stations.  The  average  height  of  the  subway  is  thirteen  feet, 
and  there  is  a  width  of  twelve  and  a  half  feet  to  each  track, 
making  it  twenty-five  feet  wide  at  its  narrowest  point  and 
about  fifty  at  its  widest.  The  majority  of  the  stations  and 
station  approaches  are  placed  at  the  intersection  of  the 
streets.  For  ventilation,  frequent  openings,  guarded  by 
ornamental  inclosures,  have  been  made  in  the  surface  of 
the  ground.  The  cars,  some  of  which  are  entirely  of  steel, 
forty-six  feet  in  length  and  weighing  forty  tons  when 
loaded,  are  run  by  electricity,  thus  doing  away  with  smoke 
and  reducing  dirt  and  dust  to  a  minimum.  By  the  terms 


TRANSPORTATION   SYSTEMS 


179 


of  the  contract,  however,  the  city  can  change  the  motive 
power  at  any  time,  should  a  better  medium  be  discovered 
in  the  future.  In  the  building  of  the  railway  every  precau- 
tion was  taken  for  safety  and  comfort.  In  its  entire  length 
there  is  no  point  where  one  track  crosses  another  at  grade. 
All  electrical  apparatus  is  carefully  insulated  to  guard 
against  fire,  while  the  third  rail,  the  one  which  transmits 
the  electrical  power,  is  protected  by  a  hood.  The  main  line 
of  the  route  in  Manhattan  extends  the  length  of  the  island, 
north  and  south,  reaching  to  Kingsbridge,  via  Fort  George  ; 
while  an  East  Side  branch  from  One  Hundred  and  Fourth 
Street  and  Broad- 
way carries  passen- 
gers as  far  as  Bronx 
Park,  in  the  borough 
of  The  Bronx. 

The  Brooklyn 
Division.  The 
Brooklyn  division 
connects  with  the 
main  line  at  the  loop 
in  front  of  the  city 
hall  in  Manhattan 
and  extends  down 
Broadway  to  Bowl- 
ing Green,  through 
Whitehall  Street,  to  South  Ferry.  From  there  it  passes 
under  the  East  River  in  two  immense  tubular  tunnels 
and  runs  into  Brooklyn  at  Joralemon  Street.  From  there 
it  runs  under  Fulton  Street  and  Flatbush  Avenue,  to 
Atlantic  Avenue. 


FIG.  121.    A  Curve  in  the  Subway 


180   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

Terms  of  the  Contract.  By  the  terms  of  the  contract,  for 
the  Manhattan  branch  of  the  road  the  city  paid  the  sum 
of  thirty-five  million  dollars,  in  consideration  of  which  the 
contracting  company  builds,  equips,  and  is  to  run  the  road 
for  a  term  of  years.  During  the  progress  of  the  contract 
the  company  secured  the  right  to  build  the  Brooklyn  divi- 
sion and  also  formed  a  combination  with  the  elevated  roads 
of  the  city,  after  which  it  took  the  name  of  the  Interbor- 
ough  Rapid  Transit  Company.  The  contract  of  the  lease 


FIG.  122.    An  Underground  Entrance  to  the  Subway 

for  the  railway  running  through  Manhattan  is  for  a  term 
of  fifty  years,  with  the  privilege  of  renewing  it  for  twenty- 
five  years.  For  this  leasing  privilege  the  company  gave 
the  city  a  lien  upon  the  plant  and  agreed  to  pay  a  rental, 
during  each  of  the  fifty  years,  of  three  and  one-half  per 
cent  of  the  money  expended  upon  its  construction,  and 
one  per  cent  of  the  capital  invested  in  the  road.  At  the 
expiration  of  the  contract  the  entire  Manhattan  subway  is 
to  revert  to  the  city,  and  the  railway  company  will  then 


TRANSPORTATION   SYSTEMS 


181 


have  paid  back  to  the  city  the  thirty-five  million  dollars 
which  it  advanced  for  the  construction  of  the  road.  The 
terms  of  the  franchise  for  the  Brooklyn  division  were  even 
more  favorable  to  the  city.  The  lease  is  for  thirty-five 
years  instead  of  fifty,  the  rate  of  interest  is  higher,  and 
the  plant  also  eventually  reverts  to  the  city.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  many  of  the  boys  and  girls  who  are  studying 
this  lesson  will  live  to  see  the  subway  revert  to  the  city. 


FIG.  123.   A  Viaduct 

Some  of  the  Wonderful  Features  of  the  Railway.  When 
we  enter  the  subway  and  take  its  comfortable  cars,  in  which 
we  can  ride  with  such  ease  and  speed  from  one  end  of  the 
city  to  the  other,  we  seldom  think  of  the  magnitude  of  the 
work  accomplished  in  constructing  it.  The  building  and 
equipment  of  its  twenty-five  miles,  including  the  tunnels 
under  the  Harlem  and  East  rivers,  and  the  power  houses, 
involve  the  expenditure  of  the  enormous  sum  of  more  than 


182   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

seventy  million  dollars.  The  labor  involved  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  four  million  cubic  yards  of  stone  and  earth 
were  removed  in  making  the  roadbed.  This  almost  incal- 
culable amount  of  earth  and  stone  was  removed,  and  the 
subway  and  tunnel  were  built  with  such  skill  that,  although 
the  work  took  place  right  through  the  busiest  portions  of 


FIG.  124.    A  Surface  Station  at  one  of  the  Street  Intersections 

New  York  City,  the  travel  on  the  surface  railways  was  not 
delayed  materially  during  its  progress.  In  many  places  the 
contractor  was  obliged  to  move  the  tracks  of  the  surface 
roads,  and  in  some  instances  to  support  those  of  the  ele- 
vated road.  Sometimes  this  was  done  by  moving  them  from 
one  side  of  the  street  to  the  other,  and  sometimes  it  was 
necessary  to  build  a  temporary  viaduct  for  the  surface 
roads  while  the  subway  was  tunneled  beneath  them.  To 
remove  the  earth  and  stone  required  almost  constant  blast- 
ing. Whenever  this  was  necessary  a  thickly  woven  net  of 
rope  was  fastened  across  the  surface  above  the  place  where 


TRANSPORTATION   SYSTEMS 


183 


the  blasting  was  to  be  done ;  this  net  kept  the  rock  and 

earth  from  flying  into  the  street  and  so  prevented  accidents. 

Another  evidence  of  engineering  ability  was  shown  in 

connection  with  the   water,  gas,   and  other  underground 


FIG.  125.   Power  House  of  the  Interborough  Railway,  Fifty -ninth 
Street  and  Eleventh  Avenue 

pipes  which  the  railway  was  constantly  encountering. 
Often  these  pipes  had  to  be  taken  up  and  placed  in 
entirely  new  positions,  but  this  was  done  so  deftly  that 
their  ordinary  use  was  not  interrupted  even  for  a  day.  The 
very  nature  of  the  construction  was  one  of  the  interesting 
features  of  the  railway.  Sometimes  between  two  streets 
the  line  changed  from  a  tunnel  to  a  subway,  and  then  from 
a  subway  and  tunnel  to  a  bridge.  The  longest  tunnel  is  at 
Washington  Heights,  where  a  double  track  passes  entirely 


1 84     GOVERNMENT  OF   THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 

through  that  elevation.    With  the  exception  of  the  Hoosac 
this  is  the  longest  tunnel  in  the  country. 

The  tubular  tunnels  under  the  East  River  and  those 
portions  of  the  roadbed  built  under  or  close  beside  the 
foundations  of  some  of  the  highest  buildings  in  the  world 
are  among  the  remarkable  features  of  the  subway.  One  of 
the  most  notable  of  these  achievements  was  the  construc- 
tion of  the  subway  through  the  New  York  Times  building, 


FIG.  126.   A  Car  of  the  Interborough  Railway 

at  Forty-second  Street  and  Broadway.  Here  the  subway 
passes  through  the  building,  the  press  rooms  being  partially 
underneath  it,  while  the  main  building  rises  high  above  it ; 
yet  the  two  structures  are  so  separated  that  either  could 
be  removed  without  interfering  with  the  operations  of  the 
other.  The  crowning  feature  about  the  railway  is  the  time 
saved  in  transit.  Formerly  it  required  forty-five  or  fifty 
minutes  to  go  from  the  city  hall  to  Harlem.  By  the  subway 
express  this  distance  can  now  be  covered  in  fifteen  minutes. 


FIG.  127.   The  New  York  Times  Building  beneath  which  runs 

the  Subway 

185 


186  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

The  entire  line  of  the  structure  is  embraced  in  subways 
and  tunnels,  excepting  the  Manhattan  Valley  Viaduct,  which 
spans  a  distance  between  Fort  George  and  Kingsbridge 
on  the  main  line,  and  from  West  One  Hundred  and  Forty- 
ninth  Street  to  Third  Avenue,  over  Westchester  Avenue, 
Southern  Boulevard,  and  Boston  Road  to  Bronx  Park  oh 
its  east  branch. 


Summary.  Early  transportation  in  New  York  City  was  by  means 
of  horseback  riding  and  stagecoaches.  Horse  and  steam  cars  followed, 
then  cable  cars  were  used,  and  finally  electric  surface  cars  were  intro- 
duced. The  first  elevated  roadbed  was  built  in  1870.  As  the  surface 
and  elevated  roads  proved  inadequate  for  transportation  in  the  city, 
the  state  legislature  in  1 894  created  the  Rapid  Transit  Commission  and 
empowered  it  to  make  all  necessary  arrangements  to  build  and  equip 
an  underground  railway  through  the  borough  of  Manhattan.  After 
years  of  preliminary  work  the  contract  to  construct  the  railway  was 
let  in  February,  1900. 

By  the  terms  of  the  contract  the  city  paid  the  construction  company 
thirty-five  million  dollars  ;  at  the  end  of  fifty  years  this  amount  will  have 
been  paid  back,  and  at  the  expiration  of  the  lease  the  whole  plant  will 
revert  to  the  city.  The  railway  is  to  extend  through  Brooklyn,  where  the 
franchise  is  even  more  favorable  to  the  municipality,  both  in  regard  to 
the  term  of  the  lease  and  the  rate  of  interest  on  the  money  invested. 
The  entire  roadbed  covers  twenty-five  miles ;  it  extends  through  a 
subway  for  the  greater  part  of  its  length. 


FIG.  128.   Soldiers  and  Sailors'  Arch,  Prospect  Park 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  PARK  DEPARTMENT  AND  THE  ART  COMMISSION 

Older  Parks  of  the  Five  Boroughs.  Greater  New  York 
devotes  more  land  to  "  the  breathing  places  of  the  people  " 
than  any  other  city  in  the  Union,  yet  the  development  of 
its  park  system  is  comparatively  recent.  For  many  years 
the  thriving  towns  which  sprung  up  on  Manhattan  Island 
were  so  surrounded  with  God's  green  fields  and  forests 
that  the  need  of  parks  and  public  reservations  was  not  felt. 

187 


188  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

Bowling  Green.  The  old  fort  established  by  the  first 
Dutch  trading  company  stood  upon  the  ground  now  occu- 
pied by  Bowling  Green.  It  was  the  center  of  New  Amster- 
dam's activities  in  those  days.  By  the  time  of  the  English 
invasion  the  little  hamlet  had  grown  to  a  flourishing  town, 
and  the  space  in  front  of  the  fort  had  become  a  public  com- 
mon. It  was  used  as  a  drill  ground  for  the  soldiers  ;  on 
it  was  the  market  place,  and  there  too  the  children  found  a 
playground.  There,  after  a  bloody  war  with  the  Indians, 
a  treaty  of  peace  was  made,  the  pipe  of  peace  smoked, 
and  the  tomahawk  buried.  In  1730  part  of  it  was  leased 
by  certain  citizens  for  the  favorite  out-of-door  game,  bowls. 
"  Bowling  Green,"  the  citizens  called  it  in  their  petition, 
—  a  name  which  has  clung  to  it  ever  since  It  was  laid  out 
as  a  park  in  1786,  and  is  the  oldest  one  in  the  city.  -It  was 
much  larger  then,  for  now  the  greater  part  of  it  is  covered 
by  mammoth  business  houses,  and  all  that  is  left  of  the 
original  Bowling  Green  is  a  little  green  space,  in  the  midst 
of  these  great  buildings,  inclosed  by  an  iron  railing.  In 
the  center  of  the  space  is  a  fountain,  and  under  one  of  the 
green  spreading  trees  is  a  statue  of  Abraham  de  Peyster. 
The  old  fort  itself  stood  on  the  present  site  of  the  new 
customhouse. 

Battery  Park.  Just  below  Bowling  Green,  at  the  south- 
ern extremity  of  the  island,  is  the  Battery.  When  the 
island  was  first  settled  there  was  a  ledge  of  rocks  extend- 
ing three  hundred  feet  out  into  the  water  at  this  point. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  there  was 
a  rumor  that  a  French  fleet  was  coming  to  attack  New 
York,  and  the  English  governor  built  a  platform  on  this 
ledge  and  there  placed  a  battery  (that  is,  several  cannon), 


PARK  DEPARTMENT  AND  ART   COMMISSION      189 

commanding  both  rivers.  From  this  incident  that  part  of 
the  island  became  known  as  "  the  Battery."  Later  the 
space  between  the  rocks  and  the  mainland  was  filled  in 
with  earth,  and  on  the  street  in  front  of  the  fort  and  Bowl- 
ing Green  many  aristocratic  houses  were  erected.  For  a 
long  time  it  was  the  fashionable  section  of  the  little  city. 

During  the  War  of   1812  the  fort  at  the  Battery  was 
the  scene  of  great  military  activity.    It  was  enlarged  and 


FIG.  129.   A  Mother  and  Baby  Elephant  in  the  New  Voik 
Zoological  Park 

fortified,  troops  were  drilled  there,  and  it  became  the  cen- 
ter of  a  chain  of  forts  which  protected  the  city.  In  1822 
it  was  deeded  to  the  state,  and  later,  under  the  name  of 
Castle  Garden,  it  was  a  place  of  popular  amusements. 
Here  Lafayette  landed  when  he  came  as  the  guest  of 
the  nation  in  1824;  and  in  it  Jenny  Lind,  "  the  Swedish 
Nightingale,"  and  many  other  notables  sang  or  performed. 
About  the  middle  of  the  century  it  reverted  to  the  national 
government  and  was  used  as  an  immigrant  station.  Until 


190  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


1891  millions  of  the  foreigners  who  came  to  our  shores 
landed  there.  It  then  reverted  to  the  city,  and  its  twenty- 
one  acres  were  transformed  into  a  sightly  park.  Tlic  old 
fort  was  changed  into  an  aquarium,  where  an  interesting 
aquatic  collection  is  on  exhibition.  On  the  ground  floor 

are  tanks  filled  with  sea 
water  containing  many 
large  marine  animals. 
Around  the  walls  are  a 
hundred  glass  tanks 
holding  fresh-  and  salt- 
water fishes.  On  the 
second  floor  there  is  a 
fine  but  smaller  exhibit 
of  various  other  forms 
of  sea  life. 

City  Hall  Park  is  the 
second  oldest  park  of 
Manhattan.  It  was  a 
part  of  the  Common  of 
the  Dutch  and  English 
periods.  When  the  city 
hall  was  erected,  in  1812, 
the  grounds  around  it 
were  laid  out  as  a  park. 
Unfortunately,  a  few  years  ago  a  large  part  of  it  was 
ceded  to  the  federal  authorities  for  the  city  post  office. 

Madison  and  Other  City  Squares.  When  New  York  was 
a  far  smaller  city  than  it  is  now  it  became  a  custom  to 
locate  the  cemeteries,  containing  the  bodies  of  the  pauper 
dead,  on  grounds  lying  at  the  edge  of  the  town.  As  the 


FIG.  130.   Corner  of  Madison  Square 
showing  the  Theater  Tower 


PARK  DEPARTMENT  AND  ART  COMMISSION      191 

population  grew  and  houses  were  built  up  around  them, 
the  bodies  in  these  cemeteries  were  removed  to  new  bury- 
ing grounds  still  farther  out,  and  the  grounds  were  con- 
verted into  public  parks.  Madison  Square  was  first  a 
potter's  field,  but  just  before  the  second  war  with  Eng- 
land the  national  government  built  an  arsenal  there  and 
bodies  were  moved  to  the  present  site  of  Bryant  Square. 
As  the  city  grew  around  it  the  arsenal  was  removed,  and 
in  1870  the  park,  took  its  place.  Union  and  Washington 
squares  as  well  as  Bryant  Square  were  also  once  burial 
places  for  the  pauper  dead. 

Early  Brooklyn  Parks.  During  all  this  time  Brooklyn 
was  as  progressive  in  the  matter  of  public  parks  as  its 
neighbor  across  the  river.  In  1835  the  city  appointed  a 
commission  to  provide  a  park  system,  and  four  years  later 
the  commission  selected  and  laid  out  Tompkins,  Washing- 
ton, and  City  parks.  The  ground  for  Fort  Green  Park  was 
purchased  in  1847,  and  the  state  legislature  authorized  the 
acquirement  of  Prospect  Park,  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
public  grounds  in  the  world,  in  1859. 

Park  Department.  Until  the  charter  of  1898  the  care 
of  the  parks  had  been  intrusted  to  commissions  appointed 
sometimes  by  the  governor  and  sometimes  by  the  mayor. 
By  the  charter  of  that  year  the  Park  Department  became 
one  of  the  fifteen  administrative  departments  of  the  city 
government,  and  a  Park  Board  of  three  commissioners  was 
placed  at  its  head.  This  board  was  given  control  of  the 
parks  and  of  all  business  connected  with  them.  The  mem- 
bers are  appointed  by  the  mayor  at  a  salary  of  five  thou- 
sand dollars  each.  He  designates  one  of  them  commissioner 
of  parks  for  the  boroughs  of  Brooklyn  and  Queens,  another 


192  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


commissioner  for  The  Bronx,  and  the  third  commissioner 
for  the  boroughs  of  Manhattan  and  Richmond.  The  last- 
named  is  the  president  of  the  board.  Subject  to  civil  ser- 
vice rules,  the  Park  Board  appoints  the  clerks  and  employees 
needed  in  the  department,  supervises  such  members  of  the 
police  force  as  are  assigned  to  park  duty,  and  permits  the 
Fire  Department  to  put  up  such  buildings  as  it  needs  in 


FIG.  131.    The  Arsenal  Building  at  Central  Park,  in  which  are  the 
Offices  of  the  Park  Board 

the  parks.  Each  commissioner  keeps  a  detailed  account  of 
all  the  money  he  receives  and  spends  on  the  parks,  and 
submits  it  to  the  comptroller.  Subject  to  the  approval  of 
the  Board  of  Aldermen,  the  Park  Board  makes  all  rules  for 
the  government  and  protection  of  the  parks  and  all  other 
property  placed  in  its  charge,  which  includes  the  streets 
immediately  adjoining  the  parks  and  the  buildings  built 
within  them  which  belong  to  the  city.  -  By  the  provision  of 


PARK  DEPARTMENT  AND   ART  COMMISSION      193 

the  charter  the  board  must  make  the  parks  beautiful,  but 
at  the  same  time  they  must  be  useful  and  pleasant  resorts 
for  the  people. 

Other  Parks  of  the  City :  Central  Park.  There  are  over 
one  hundred  parks  in  the  city,  covering  nearly  seven  thou- 
sand acres  of  land,  besides 
sixty  miles  of  parkways. 
The  state  legislature  of 
1853  provided  for  the 
establishment  of  Central 
Park,  and  the  Supreme 
Court  appointed  five  com- 
missioners to  secure  the 
title  to  the  land.  It  re- 
quired three  years  to 
accomplish  this,  and  the 
contract  to  make,  design, 
and  lay  out  the  improve- 
ments of  the  park  was 
then  awarded  to  the  dis- 
tinguished landscape 
artists,  Frederick  Law 
Olmsted  and  Calvert 
Vaux,  but  the  actual  work 
of  improvement  was  not 
begun  until  1858.  The  park  covers  eight  hundred  and 
forty-three  acres,  extending  from  Fifty-ninth  Street  to  One 
Hundred  and  Tenth  Street,  between  Fifth  and  Eighth 
avenues.  It  has  ten  miles  of  drives  and  over  five  miles  of 
bridle  paths.  Within  it  are  innumerable  walks  and  footpaths 
and  beautiful  green  stretches  of  lawn.  Many  of  the  ten 


FIG.  132.  Statue  of  Sherman  and  the 
Angel  of  Victory,  Fifty-ninth  Street 
Entrance,  Central  Park 


194 


GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


thousand  seats  in  the  park  are  in  picturesque  vine-covered 
arbors.  There  are  four  hundred  acres  of  wooded  ground 
containing  over  five  hundred  thousand  trees.  As  many  of 
the  trees  are  labeled,  any  one  may  learn  to  recognize  the 
various  species.  There  are  six  lakes  in  the  park,  besides 
the  two  great  reservoirs  of  the  Croton  Aqueduct.  Bethesda 
Fountain,  in  the  center  of  the  grounds,  is  one  of  great 
beauty.  The  menagerie,  with  its  birds  and  animals,  is  a 

popular  feature  of  the 
park,  and  in  the  "Car- 
rousel "  are  merry-go- 
rounds,  swings,  and 
games  for  little  people. 
There  is  a  large  Com- 
mon  for  baseball, 
cricket,  and  lawn  ten- 
nis. On  the  mall  is  the 
band  stand,  where  a 
band  plays  on  summer 
afternoons.  Among  the 
buildings  are  the  Metro- 
politan Museum  of  Art, 
established  in  1869,  and  the  American  Museum  of  Natural 
History.  The  Museum  of  Art  contains  a  magnificent  col- 
lection of  art  treasures.  It  has  a  fine  studio  and  a  large  hall 
for  public  entertainment.  The  American  Museum  of  Natural 
History  is  filled  with  interesting  specimens  from  all  sections 
of  the  globe. 

Prospect  Park.  The  ground  for  Prospect  Park  in  Brooklyn 
was  acquired  at  about  the  same  time  that  New  York  City 
bought  Central  Park,  but  it  was  not  laid  out  and  improved 


FIG.  133.   Driveway  leading  into  Prospect 
Park 


PARK  DEPARTMENT  AND  ART  COMMISSION      195 

until  the  latter  part  of  the  sixties.  Park  Plaza  on  Flat  bush 
Avenue  leads  to  the  main  entrance  of  the  park.  The 
plaza  itself  is  a  very  attractive  feature  of  that  part  of  the 
city.  Its  approach  is  marked  by  ornamented  stone  kiosks 
and  four  great  granite  pillars.  In  its  center  is  an  electric 
fountain,  which  is  often  illuminated  during  summer  even- 
ings. At  the  main  gateway  leading  into  Prospect  Park  is 
a  handsome  memorial  arch  in  honor  of  the  soldiers  and 
sailors  of  the  Civil  War.  It  is  surmounted  by  a  colossal 


FIG.  134.   Herd  of  Buffalo  at  the  New  York  Zoological  Park 

bronze  group  representing  the  Chariot  of  Victory  led  by 
the  Herald  of  Peace.  In  the  wooded  park  are  miles  of 
driveways,  as  well  as  paths  for  pedestrians,  lined  with  over- 
arching trees.  Here  also  are  seats,  arbors,  and  rustic 
shelters,  besides  several  fountains.  A  large  lake  affords 
opportunities  for  boating  and  skating.  Fine  views  of  the 
harbor  and  its  environments  can  be  had  from  elevated 
sections  of  the  park.  The  menagerie,  the  Palm  House,  and 
the  Colonial  Gardens  are  other  charming  features.  The 
park  covers  five  hundred  and  sixteen  acres,  and  the  Shore 
Drive  leading  from  it  extends  ten  miles  along  the  ocean 
beach. 


196   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

Parks  of  The  Bronx.  The  larger  and  also  the  newest 
parks  of  the  city  are  in  The  Bronx,  but  it  was  not  until 
1883  that  the  state  legislature  empowered  the  mayor  to 
appoint  a  commission  to  select  lands  for  parks  in  that  local- 
ity. A  year  later  the  commission,  composed  of  seven 
citizens,  reported  its  selection ;  and  the  city  proceeded  to 
take  the  lands  which  comprise  Pelham  Bay,  Van  Cortlandt, 
Bronx,  Crotona,  Claremont,  and  St.  Mary's  parks,  with  the 
parkways  of  Pelham  Bay,  Bronx,  Mosholu,  and  Crotona. 
All  the  parks  are  to  be  connected  by  a  boulevard,  which, 
when  completed,  will  be  a  magnificent  driveway. 

Pelham  Bay  Park  faces  the  water  and  has  nine  miles  of 
shore  line.  With  its  picturesque  bays  and  inlets  and  open 
water  front,  it  has  more  natural  beauty  than  almost  any  of 
the  other  parks.  It  contains  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty 
acres  of  land  and  includes  large  tracts  of  woodland  with 
trees  which  are  centuries  old.  Its  drives  are  notable  for 
their  rugged  scenery.  Plats  have  been  laid  out  for  a  golf 
course,  baseball  grounds,  and  other  amusements. 

Van  Cortlandt  Park,  lying  at  the  extreme  northern  end  of 
the  city,  ranks  next  to  Pelham  in  size.  It  contains  eleven 
hundred  and  thirty-two  acres,  comprising  some  of  the  most 
historic  ground  in  the  state.  It  was  the  Van  Cortlandt 
estate,  and  the  manorial  residence  on  it,  now  a  museum  in 
care  of  the  Society  of  Colonial  Dames,  was  erected  in  1748. 
It  was  occupied  by  Washington  and  his  staff  during  the  Rev- 
olution, and  was  also  headquarters  for  the  British.  The  old 
gristmill  and  sawmills  are  still  standing.  The  park  contains 
a  very  large  parade  ground  for  the  militia,  and  the  lake  lying 
beyond  it  covers  seventy-five  acres.  Besides,  there  are  many 
recreation  centers  as  well  as  bathing  places  on  the  beach. 


PARK  DEPARTMENT  AND  ART  COMMISSION      197 

The  Bronx  Park.  Jonas  Bronck,  the  founder  of  the  fam- 
ily in  America,  purchased  from  the  Indians,  about  1640, 
the  land  now  occupied  by  the  borough  of  The  Bronx.  The 
park  lies  on  both  sides  of  Bronx  River,  between  Williams- 
bridge  and  West  Farms.  The  river  here  contains  several 
falls  and  cascades  which  add  materially  to  its  beauty.  On 
one  of  the  banks  is  the  Lorillard  mansion,  another  historic 
house  of  this  neighborhood.  The  park  is  divided  into  three 


FIG.  135.    Bengal  Tiger  at  the  New  York  Zoological  Park 

sections,  the  most  northerly  of  which  is  the  Botanical 
Garden  belonging  to  the  New  York  Botanical  Society.  It 
contains  many  rare  collections.  The  southern  end  of  the 
park  is  devoted  to  the  collection  of  the  Zoological  Society, 
which  has  the  finest  aggregation  of  animals  on  this  side 
of  the  Atlantic,  with  the  best  equipment  for  them.  The 
middle  section  of  the  park  covers  one  hundred  and  fifty 
acres  and  is  under  the  control  of  the  Park  Board. 

There  are  many  smaller  parks  scattered  throughout  the 
five  boroughs.  In  the  crowded  districts  of  both  Manhattan 
and  Brooklyn  whole  blocks  have  been  razed  in  order  to  make 


198      GOVERNMENT   OF  THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 


space  for  them.  They  are  well  supplied  with  shade  trees, 
fountains,  and  seats.  Bands  of  music  are  present  on  cer- 
tain afternoons  and  evenings  during  the  summer  months, 
and  space  is  provided  where  children  can  play  games  and 
older  boys  and  girls  have  tennis  courts  and  ball  grounds. 
Statuary  of  the  Parks.  In  many  ways  the  parks  are 

educational.  This  is 
especially  true  of  the  his- 
torical and  mythological 
statuary  which  is  to  be 
found  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent  in  all  of  them. 
St.  Gaudens'  heroic  sta- 
tue of  Sherman  led  by 
the  Angel  of  Victory  at 
the  Fifty-ninth  Street 
entrance  to  Central  Park, 
the  stately  Washington 
Arch  at  Washington 
Square,  the  equestrian 
statue  of  Washington 
in  Union  Square,  the 
marble  effigy  of  Direck- 
tor  Peter  Stuyvesant  in  the  outer  wall  of  St.  Mark's  Church 
on  Second  Avenue  and  Tenth  Street,  the  bronze  statue  of 
Abraham  de  Peyster  in  Bowling  Green,  Ward's  Indian  Hun- 
ter at  the  west  of  the  mall  in  Central  Park,  the  statue  of 
Nathan  Hale  in  City  Hall  Park,  Bartholdi's  stately  figure 
of  Lafayette  in  Union  Square,  and  the  monument  to  the 
Maryland  soldiers  in  Prospect  Park,  —  all  these  breathe  of 
heroism  and  teach  patriotism. 


FIG.  136.  The  Grant  Mausoleum 


PARK  DEPARTMENT  AND  ART  COMMISSION      199 


Does  not  the  statue  of  Columbus  which  faces  the  mall, 
as  well  as  the  exquisite  rostral  shaft  at  the  west  entrance 
to  Central  Park,  awaken  in  the  youthful  beholder  a  desire 
to  know  more  of  the  discoverer  of  his  country  ?  Does  not 
Ward's  Pilgrim,  in  the  same  park,  bring  to  memory  that 
famous  landing  on  Plymouth  Rock  ?  The  events  of  the 
Civil  War  are  brought  home  to  him  in  the  superb  mauso- 
leum on  Riverside  Drive,  which  holds  the  body  of  General 
Grant ;  in  the  stat- 
ues of  the  immortal 
Lincoln  in  Union 
Square  and  Prospect 
Park  ;  in  the  impos- 
ing arches  to  the 
soldiers  and  sailors 
of  that  period,  at 
both  Prospect  Park 
and  Riverside  ;  in 
the  statue  of  Far- 
ragut  in  Madison 
Square,  of  Hancock  FlG"  I37'  One  of  the  Lakes  in  Central  Park 
in  Hancock  Square,  of  Porter  in  Van  Cortlandt  Park,  and 
that  of  the  Seventh  Regiment  heroes  in  Central  Park.  The 
faces  of  Mozart  and  Beethoven  are  reproduced  so  many 
times  in  the  parks  that  they  cannot  but  be  familiar  to  every 
music  lover.  Yet  all  of  these  are  but  a  few  of  the  pieces 
of  statuary  in  the  various  parks  and  streets. 

Art  Commission.  As  New  York  City  is  constantly  acquir- 
ing works  of  art,  and  as  constantly  erecting  public  build- 
ings, bridges,  and  other  structures  which  add  to  or  lessen 
the  beauty  of  the  city,  the  framers  of  the  charter  of  1898 


200   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

directed  the  creation  of  an  Art  Commission,  to  be  composed 
of  a  painter,  sculptor,  architect,  and  three  laymen,  with  the 
mayor,  the  president  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art, 
the  president  of  the  Public  Library,  and  the  president  of 
the  Brooklyn  Institute  of  Arts  and  Sciences  as  ex-officio 
members.  All  vacancies  in  the  membership  of  this  com- 
mission are  filled  by  the  mayor  from  a  list  of  names  pro- 


FIG.  138.    Brooklyn  Bridge 

posed  by  the  Fine  Arts  Federation.  This  list  must  contain 
the  names  of  not  less  than  three  times  the  number  of 
persons  to  be  appointed. 

Its  Powers  and  Duties.  The  commission  passes  judg- 
ment upon  all  works  of  art  which  are  to  be  purchased  by 
the  city,  and  decides  where  they  are  to  be  placed.  No 
change  of  location  for  any  work  of  art  can  be  made  without 
the  consent  of  the  commission.  If  the  Board  of  Aldermen 
requests  it,  all  designs  for  municipal  buildings,  bridges, 
approaches,  gates,  fences,  lamps,  or  other  structures  belong- 
ing to  the  city  are  passed  upon  by  the  commission  before 
they  are  accepted.  No  bridge  or  other  structure  costing 
one  million  dollars  or  more  can  be  erected  until  the 
commission  has  approved  of  the  design  for  such  structures. 


PARK  DEPARTMENT  AND  ART  COMMISSION      2OI 

The  appointment  of  this  commission  is  most  fortunate  for 
the  city,  and  each  year  adds  to  its  usefulness. 

The  City  Improvement  Commission  is  another  board  ap- 
pointed by  the  mayor  for  the  purpose  of  civic  betterment. 
It  is  the  object  of  this  commission  to  bring  about  a  con- 
certed plan  for  the  architectural  improvement  of  the  city, 
and  to  attain  uniformity  of  beauty  in  its  buildings  and  in 
the  streets. 


Summary.  The  need  for  park  area  was  not  felt  until  two  centuries 
after  the  Dutch  settled  on  Manhattan  Island.  Among  the  older  parks 
of  Manhattan  are  Bowling  Green,  the  Battery,  and  City  Hall  Park. 
Before  the  charter  of  1898,  which  created  the  Park  Department,  the 
care  of  the  parks  of  the  city  was  intrusted  to  various  commissions. 
By  the  provision  of  the  charter  the  head  of  the  department  is  the 
Park  Board  of  three  commissioners,  who  have  full  charge  of  all 
parks  in  the  five  boroughs.  Central  and  Prospect  parks  are  the  most 
notable  of  the  public  reservations,  but  in  The  Bronx  are  some  of  the 
larger  and  newer  parks,  which,  in  course  of  time,  will  be  connected  by 
a  grand  boulevard.  The  statuary  of  the  city  has  educational  value 
because  of  historic  associations.  The  Art  Commission  and  the  City 
Improvement  Commission  look  after  municipal  improvements. 


CHAPTER    XVII 

THE   DEPARTMENT   OF   BRIDGES 

The  Need  of  Bridges.  It  must  have  been  very  inconven- 
ient for  our  Dutch  forefathers  to  have  so  much  water 
between  Manhattan  Island  and  the  neighboring  Breuckelen, 
Paulus  Hook  (Jersey  City),  and  Monacknong  (Staten  Island), 


FIG.  139.    The  Chicago  Limited 
A  Pennsylvania  special  running  at  the  rate  of  sixty  miles  an  hour 

with  no  bridges  to  span  it  and  so  few  ferries.  Of  course, 
the  waters  of  the  ocean  and  rivers  swept  round  the  islands 
then,  as  they  do  now,  the  coasts  of  the  mainlands  were 
indented  with  inlets  and  bays,  while  across  their  surfaces 
ran  the  many  streams  of  varying  size  which  intersect  them 
to-day.  For  almost  two  centuries  the  waters  practically 
shut  the  inhabitants  of  each  province  within  its  own  limited 


202 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  BRIDGES  203 

borders.  Brooklyn  was  nearly  as  remote  from  New  York, 
as  far  as  reaching  it  was  concerned,  as  Philadelphia  is  at 
this  time,  for  it  took  the  slow-going,  rude  rowboat  ferries 
about  as  long  to  make  the  trip  across  the  river,  especially 
if  the  weather  chanced  to  be  a  bit  rough,  as  it  takes  the 
Chicago  Limited  now  to  cover  the  distance  between  the 
two  cities. 

Origin  and  Organization  of  the  Department.  Previous 
to  the  establishment  of  the  Greater  New  York  Charter, 
January  i,  1898,  some  of  the  bridges  of  the  city  were 


FIG.  140.   The  Oldest  Bridge  on  Croton  River 

under  the  Bureau  of  Highways,  others  under  the  Park 
Department,  while  the  Brooklyn  and  the  new  East  River 
bridge  were  under  a  special  commission.  When  consolida- 
tion took  place  a  department  was  created  for  the  care  and 
maintenance  of  bridges.  This  department  is  administered 
by  a  commissioner  appointed  by  the  mayor. 

Powers  of  the  Department.    The  department  has  charge 
of  all  bridges  over  navigable  streams  and  all  those  having 


204      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 

a  terminus  in  two  or  more  boroughs,  owned  in  whole  or  in 
part  by  the  City  of  New  York.  It  also  has  control  of  all 
tunnels  built  in  whole  or  in  part  at  the  expense  of  the  city, 
except  those  owned  and  constructed  by  the  Rapid  Transit 
Commission.  When  bridges  are  considered  necessary  the 
commissioner  recommends  their  construction  to  the  Board 
of  Estimate  and  Apportionment,  which,  if  the  scheme  is 
approved,  appropriates  money  for  the  purpose.  All  the 
public  works,  including  bridges,  which  cost  more  than  one 
million  dollars  must  be  approved  by  the  Art  Commission. 

System  of  Bridges.  There  are  about  fifty  bridges  under 
the  control  of  the  department.  They  comprise  those  over 
the  East  and  Harlem  rivers  and  smaller  streams,  among 
which  are  the  Bronx  River,  Spuyten  Duyvil,  Newtown, 
Flushing  Creek,  and  Gowanus  Canal.  These  are  of  all 
kinds  of  bridge  construction,  —  suspension,  cantilever,  tres- 
tle, steel  arch,  bascule,  and  swing  bridges,  each  adapted  to 
the  location,  the  width  of  the  stream,  and  the  purpose  for 
which  it  is  used.  There  are  several  good  bridges  over  the 
Bronx  River.  Many  of  the  smaller  bridges  of  the  city -are 
interesting  and  unique,  but  space  here  will  be  given  only 
to  the  historical  bridges  and  the  more  remarkable  ones 
over  the  Harlem  and  East  rivers. 

Historic  Bridges :  Kingsbridge.  The  island  of  Manhat- 
tan itself  is  shut  off  from  the  mainland  by  the  winding  river 
at  its  northern  extremity  which  still  bears  the  good  old 
Dutch  name  of  Harlem.  In  colonial  days  the  land  of  the 
Hudson  valley  was  occupied  by  the  manorial  lords,  —  the 
patroons  and  their  successors,  —  and  toward  the  latter  part 
of  the  seventeenth  century  a  wealthy  landowner  by  the 
name  of  Phillipse  built  the  first  bridge  which  connected 


THE  DEPARTMENT   OF  BRIDGES 


205 


Manhattan  Island  with  the  mainland.  His  estate  lay  in 
what  is  now  Yonkers,  on  the  old  post  road  leading  from 
Bowling  Green  to  Fort  Orange  (the  present  Albany) ;  and 
there  was  sad  need  of  a  bridge  over  the  Harlem  River  at 
this  point,  for  just  beyond  it  the  post  road  branched  into 
the  highway  which  led  to  Boston.  So  in  1693  good  Burgher 
Phillipse  built  the  bridge,  and  with  true  loyalty  named  it 


FIG.  141.  Old  King's  Bridge 

King's  Bridge,  an  appellation  which  has  since  been  con- 
tracted into  Kingsbridge.  During  the  Revolution,  nearly 
a  hundred  years  afterwards,  this  bridge  was  one  of  the 
important  scenes  of  the  conflict.  It  was  commanded  by 
Coxhill  Fort  from  the  northern  end  of  the  island,  and  by  a 
line  of  forts  from  the  mainland.  The  Hessians  marched 
over  it  to  plunder  the  farms  of  Westchester  County,  and  the 
soldiers  of  the  Continental  Army  crossed  it  many  times. 
By  1812  it  had  grown  too  time-worn  for  safety,  and  when 


206   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

it  was  rebuilt  in  that  year  the  original  location  was  slightly 
changed.  Now,  as  in  its  early  history,  Kingsbridge  is  a 
much-used  highway. 

Farmers*  Bridge.  Every  one  who  crossed  the  bridges  in 
those  days  had  to  pay  toll,  and  it  is  said  that  the  toll  over 
King's  Bridge  added  not  a  little  to  Burgher  Phillipse's 
wealth.  Long  after  he  was  dead  and  gone,  however,  the  toll 


FIG.  142.   Farmers'  Bridge 

went  on.  The  farmers  of  Westchester  County  always  grum- 
bled about  the  toll,  and  finally,  in  1759,  they  built  a  bridge 
over  which  every  one  was  allowed  to  pass  free,  and  in  honor 
of  themselves  they  called  it  Farmers'  Bridge.  It  has  been 
rebuilt  repeatedly  since  then,  but  it  has  always  stood  where 
it  stands  to-day,  near  the  head  of  Harlem  River,  not  far  from 
Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek.  Washington  Irving,  in  one  of  the 
most  humorous  of  his  Knickerbocker  Tales,  tells  the  way  in 
which  this  creek  got  its  name.  Do  you  know  the  story? 


THE  DEPARTMENT   OF  BRIDGES  20? 

Macomb's  Dam  Bridge  crosses  the  Harlem  River  at  One 
Hundred  and  Fifty-fifth  Street.  It  was  first  built  in  1812, 
and  there  is  an  interesting  little  story  of  how  it  received  its 
name.  A  farmer  whose  lands  extended  to  the  river  banks 
wanted  to  build  a  dam  over  the  river  at  this  point  for  his 
mill,  but  his  neighbors  were  unwilling  that  he  should  dam 
up  the  waters.  Apparently  agreeing  to  their  objections,  he 
applied  to  the  assembly  for  permission  to  build  a  bridge, 
but  instead  of  doing  so,  when  the  permission  was  granted, 


FIG.  143.   Macomb's  Dam  Bridge 

he  constructed  a  dam.  His  indignant  neighbors  got  together 
one  night  and  tore  out  the  dam,  but  the  persistent  farmer 
deliberately  rebuilt  it.  This  was  repeated  twice,  and  in 
fact  the  contest  lasted  for  twenty  years,  and  then  a  bridge 
was  erected  which  stood  until  1892.  At  that  time  it  was 
replaced  by  the  Central  Bridge,  a  swing  draw,  which,  at  the 
time  it  was  built,  was  the  heaviest  drawbridge  in  the  world. 
The  original  name,  Macomb's  Dam,  has  been  restored  to 
the  bridge  by  an  ordinance  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen. 

Third  Avenue  Bridge.  Coming  down  the  Harlem  River, 
the  next  historic  bridge  is  the  Third  Avenue.  For  over 
three  quarters  of  a  century  all  the  overland  traffic  had  to 


208   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

go  up  to  the  north  end  of  the  island  and  pass  over  either 
Farmers'  Bridge  or  Kingsbridge,  and  then  down  again  into 
Westchester  County.  In  1795  permission  was  granted  by 
the  Common  Council  to  build  a  bridge  at  Third  Avenue  and 
to  collect  tolls.  At  the  same  time  roads  from  the  Battery 
were  laid  out  to  the  bridge,  thus  saving  many  miles  of 
travel  to  Westchester.  This  bridge  was  used  until  1867, 


FIG.  144.    Washington  Bridge 

when  it  became  unsafe  and  another  one  took  its  place.    The 
present  structure  was  completed  in  1898. 

Williamsbridge.  Another  historic  bridge,  built  over  Bronx 
River  before  the  Revolution,  is  Williamsbridge,  north  of 
Bronx  Park.  Historians  record  that  in  1776,  when  partisan 
feeling  ran  high,  fifty  guns  were  stationed  at  the  house  of 
a  near-by  farmer,  whose  name  was  John  Williams,  to  pro- 
tect this  bridge.  The  farmers  of  Westchester  and  neighbor- 
ing counties  had  to  cross  it  whenever  they  came  into  the 
city,  and  for  that  reason  they  made  a  valiant  effort  to  save 
it  from  destruction  at  the  hands  of  the  British  soldiers. 
The  Williamsbridge  of  to-day  is  in  the  same  location  as  in 
earlier  times. 


THE  DEPARTMENT   OF   BRIDGES 


209 


Other  Harlem  River  Bridges.  Aside  from  the  historic 
bridges  mentioned,  and  their  successors,  there  are  several 
others  of  interest  over  the  Harlem  River.  From  West  One 
Hundred  and  Eightieth  Street,  in  Manhattan,  to  Aqueduct 


FIG.  145.   Brooklyn  Bridge  from  the  New  York  Side 

Avenue  in  The  Bronx  extends  the  artistic  Washington 
Bridge,  with  its  graceful  steel  and  stone  arches.  High 
Bridge,  for  pedestrians  only,  carries  the  Croton  Aqueduct 
underneath  its  roadway,  and  is  under  control  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Water  Supply,  Gas,  and  Electricity.  Its  symmetrical 
stone  arches  rising  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  above 
the  river  make  it  one  of  the  most  attractive  bridges  of  the 
city.  The  remaining  Harlem  River  bridges,  at  Madison 
Avenue,  Willis  Avenue,  and  the  newer  ones  at  One  Hundred 


210      GOVERNMENT   OF  THE   CITY   OF  NEW  YORK 


and  Forty-fifth  Street  and  at  Fordham  Heights,  are  draw- 
bridges to  allow  the  passage  of  ships.  The  oldest  drawbridge 
on  the  Harlem  River  is  the  Madison  Avenue  Bridge.  Bridges 
over  navigable  streams  must  now  be  built  either  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-five  feet  above  the  water  or  must  be  draw- 

bridges to  allow  the 
passage  of  ships. 
On  a  narrow  river 
like  the  Harlem 
drawbridges  are 
more  practicable. 

East  River 
Bridges  ;  Brooklyn 
Bridge.  The  East 
River  is  so  wide 
that  it  requires 
great  engineering 
skill  to  span  it  with 
bridges  high 
enough  to  allow  the 
passage  of  ships 
underneath.  The 


FIG.  146.    Williamsburg  Bridge 

this  river  was  the  famous  Brooklyn  Suspension  Bridge,  con- 
sidered at  the  time  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world.  Sus- 
pension bridges  originated  out  of  the  necessity  for  longer 
bridges.  In  this  form  of  bridge  the  weight  is  carried  by  pow- 
erful cables  securely  anchored  on  either  shore  and  swung  over 
strong  towers  on  solidly  planted  piers.  After  the  Civil  War 
a  suspension  bridge  was  authorized  by  the  New  York  legis- 
lature. The  work  was  intrusted  to  John  A.  Roebling,  who 


THE   DEPARTMENT  OF   BRIDGES 


211 


had  built  the  suspension  bridge 
across  the  Niagara  River.  When 
this  beautiful  and  artistic  bridge 
was  opened  for  traffic  in  1883  it 
was  the  largest  bridge  of  any  kind 
in  existence.  It  is  still  the  long- 
est suspension  bridge,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Williamsburg 
Bridge. 

Williamsburg  Bridge.  The 
rapid  growth  of  the  borough  of 
Brooklyn  soon  necessitated  other 
bridges  across  the  East  River. 
In  1895  the  Williamsburg  Bridge 
was  commenced,  but  it  was  not 
open  to  traffic  until  December, 
1903.  It  is  not  generally  con- 
sidered as  fine  in  design  as  the 
Brooklyn  Bridge,  nor  as  hand- 
some as  the  Manhattan  Bridge, 
under  construction,  yet  it  is  the 
heaviest  suspension  bridge  ever 
built,  and  will  greatly  aid  in  the 
development  of  the  districts 
which  it  serves. 

Manhattan  Bridge  is  nine  hun- 
dred feet  northeasterly  from 
Brooklyn  Bridge,  between  it  and 
Williamsburg  Bridge.  It  was  be- 
gun in  1899  and  its  completion 
is  looked  for  in  1907.  This  bridge 


212     GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

is  very  much  needed  and  will  furnish  additional  connection 
between  the  crowded  parts  of  Brooklyn  and  New  York.  It 
will  have  a  roadway  with  two  trolley  tracks  on  either  side 
and  foot  walks  outside  of  these,  commanding  views  of  the 
river.  On  the  second  floor  there  will  be  four  elevated  rail- 
way tracks  over  the  trolley  tracks.  The  anchorages  will  be 
heavier  than  those  of  the  other  suspension  bridges  and  will 
cross  the  intersecting  streets  with  great  arches.  Above 
these  will  be  colonnades,  which  will  form  resting  places  and 
points  of  observation.  The  Manhattan  terminus  will  be  near 
the  corner  of  Canal  Street  and  the  Bowery,  the  Brooklyn 
terminus  near  the  corner  of  Nassau  and  Bridge  streets. 

Blackwell's  Island  Bridge.  The  fourth  of  the  East  River 
bridges,  Blackwell's  Island  Bridge,  crosses  the  river  from 
Second  Avenue  in  the  borough  of  Manhattan  to  Thompson 
Avenue  in  the  borough  of  Queens,  and  about  midway  across 
the  stream  it  rests  upon  Blackwell's  Island.  This  bridge 
has  five  spans  and  is  cantilever  in  form.  When  completed 
the  Blackwell's  Island  Bridge  will  be  seven  thousand  four 
hundred  feet  in  length,  and  will  have  the  longest  cantilever 
span  in  this  country.  It  will  be  second  in  size  only  to  the 
bridge  over  the  Firth  of  Forth  in  Scotland,  and  the  one 
over  the  St.  Lawrence  River  at  Quebec. 

Summary.  Greater  New  York  is  cut  up  by  numerous  rivers,  creeks, 
and  canals,  and  the  boroughs  are  separated  by  the  waters  of  the  bay 
and  the  East,  the  Hudson,  and  the  Harlem  rivers.  A  complete  system 
of  bridges  is  therefore  necessary  to  bind  the  city  together,  and  to  afford 
transit  facilities  from  one  part  to  another.  There  are  a  number  of 
interesting  historic  bridges  in  the  city.  The  East  River  has  four 
bridges,  either  completed  or  in  course  of  construction,  which  will 
connect  Manhattan  and  Brooklyn. 


FIG.  148.   A  Part  of  New  York  Harbor 
Showing  the  building  of  the  Department  of  Docks  and  Ferries 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  DOCKS   AND  FERRIES 

The  Water  Front  of  the  City  of  New  York.  Down  at  the 
extreme  southern  end  of  the  city,  just  west  of  Battery 
Place,  is  a  long,  two-story,  brown,  frame  structure  facing 
towards  Whitehall  Street.  It  is  built  on  a  pier  of  the 
municipal  government's  Department  of  Docks  and  Ferries. 
Here  the  commissioner,  with  a  large  force  of  clerks,  has  his 
office  in  the  very  heart  of  the  docks  and  ferries  of  which  he 
has  charge.  For  the  reason  that  New  York  City  has  such 
a  tremendous  water  frontage  the  Department  of  Docks  and 
Ferries  is  one  of  the  most  important  departments  of  the 
municipal  government.  On  the  frontispiece  map  of  this 

213 


214   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


book  you  can  trace  the  various  harbors,  bays,  and  rivers 
which  indent  and  cross  the  five  boroughs.  When  you  have 
done  this  you  will  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that  the  water 
front  to  the  city  embraces  three  hundred  and  fifty-three 
miles.  It  includes  one  of  the  finest  harbors  in  the  world. 


FIG.  149.   A  Wet  Dock 

Docks  and  Piers.  In  crossing  the  Brooklyn  Bridge  the 
myriads  of  docks  and  piers  which  line  New  York  harbor 
can  be  seen  to  advantage.  Piers  are  structures  extending 
out  into  the  water,  to  which  vessels  can  be  moored,  and 
from  which  they  load  and  unload.  Docks  are  of  two  kinds, 
wet  and  dry.  A  wet  dock  is  a  harbor  basin  where  a  vessel 
may  enter  at  any  time.  A  dry  dock  is  a  basin  of  special 


DEPARTMENT   OF  DOCKS  AND   FERRIES        215 

shape,  from  which,  after  the  vessel  has  entered  it,  the 
water  may  be  forced  out  and  the  vessel  repaired,  painted, 
or  generally  overhauled.  The  New  York  docks  are  a  series 
of  elongated  water  basins  formed  between  the  piers  project- 
ing into  the  water  from  the  bulkhead  lines  of  the  harbor. 

Features  of  the  Harbor  of  New  York.  The  docks  and 
piers  of  New  York  harbor  are  of  such  size  that  the  largest 
passenger  steamer  plying  the  ocean  can  come  to  anchor 


FIG.  150.  One  of  the  Largest  and  Swiftest  of  Ocean  Steamers, — 
Kaiser  Wilhelm  II,  of  the  North  German  Lloyd  Line 

in  them.  All  the  principal  railroads  running  into  New 
York  City  own  or  control  freight  docks,  and  some  of  these 
are  the  most  expensive  ever  built.  Their  piers  extend 
into  the  water  eight  hundred  feet ;  and  a  few  of  them, 
by  including  their  shore  indentures,  measure  a  thousand 
feet.  On  the  bulkheads  of  these  piers  immense  granite 
and  steel  warehouses  have  been  erected.  Not  only  can 
the  largest  vessel  enter  any  of  their  basins,  but  in  some 
instances  twelve  of  them  can  do  so  at  one  time.  Railroad 
tracks  encircle  both  sides  of  the  piers,  with  inward-  and 
outward-bound  freightage,  and  twelve  great  steamships 


2l6      GOVERNMENT   OF  THE  CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 

can  be  moored  to  them  at  once  to  be  loaded  or  unloaded. 
Besides  these,  on  the  shores  of  the  East  River  are  the  dry 
docks  of  the  Erie  Basin,  the  largest  in  the  United  States. 
But  the  railroads  by  no  means  occupy  all  the  docks  and 
piers  of  New  York  harbor.  There  are  shipyards,  marine 
railways,  and  commercial  wharves  of  all  kinds.  Mammoth 
rafts  of  timber  and  lumber  are  floated  down  from  northern 
waters  and  brought  to  harbor  there.  There  are  grain  eleva- 
tors, sugar  refineries,  and  hundreds  of  factories  which  send 
out  and  receive  their  products  from  all  sections  of  the  globe. 
There  are  innumerable  summer  resorts  and  many  govern- 
ment posts  and  reservations,  as  well  as  recreation  piers. 

How  the  Docks  and  Ferries  were  Established.  At  about 
the  time  when  the  colony  of  Dutch  traders  were  establish- 
ing themselves  at  New  Amsterdam  some  of  their  kindred, 
as  well  as  people  of  other  nations,  settled  on  Long  Island, 
Staten  Island,  and  the  Jersey  shores.  This  soon  created 
the  need  of  ferries,  and  we  are  told  that  as  early  as  1640 
Cornelis  Dircksen  built  a  boat  and  became  the  ferryman 
on  the  East  River.  In  1658  the  first  public  wharf  was 
built  not  far  from  the  old  fort.  It  was  a  big  moon-shaped 
dock  called  The  Hooft,  and  the  river  in  front  of  it  was 
The  Roadstead.  The  first  ferry  house  was  built  on  Peck's 
Slip,  but  after  a  while  ferries  began  running  to  Paulus 
Hook,  Elizabethtown,  and  Staten  Island.  They  added 
greatly  to  the  commercial  importance  of  the  province.  In 
the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  Dongan 
Charter  gave  the  little  city  liberal  harbor  privileges.  A  few 
years  later,  in  1691,  it  received  an  additional  grant  from 
the  English  crown,  which  it  has  held  ever  since,  to  hold  all 
lands  between  high-  and  low-water  mark.  From  that  time 


DEPARTMENT  OF   DOCKS  AND   FERRIES        2I/ 

until  now  riparian  owners,  that  is,  the  people  who  own  the 
land  facing  the  water  front,  have  not  been  permitted  to 
establish  a  wharf  or  dock,  or  to  build  a  pier,  without  per- 
mission from  the  city.  During  the  Dutch  and  English 
supremacy  franchises  were  carefully  guarded  for  the  benefit 
of  the  colony,  but  the  struggle  which  then  began  for  the 
harbor  franchises  has  continued  from  that  day  to  this. 


FIG.  151.    The  Hooft 
The  big  moon-shaped  dock  built  in  1658 

For  many  years  after  the  ferry  was  established  a  rule  was 
enforced  prohibiting  any  person  to  ferry  from  one  side  of 
the  river  to  the  other  without  a  license. 

In  the  Days  of  the  Revolution  and  After.  The  custom  of 
raising  revenue  on  the  docks  and  ferries  was  of  English 
origin.  In  1694,  when  money  was  needed  for  city  defense, 
a  mortgage  of  two  hundred  pounds  was  placed  on  the  ferry 
plying  between  Brooklyn  and  New  York.  A  few  years 
later,  when  a  new  city  hall  was  to  be  erected,  the  ferry  was 


218      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

again  mortgaged  to  supply  the  necessary  funds.  Indeed, 
from  that  day  to  this  the  docks  and  ferries  have  been  a 
source  of  revenue  to  the  city.  After  the  Revolution  the 
colonial  policy  of  municipal  ownership  of  ferry  privileges 
was  continued.  When  the  adoption  of  the  state  consti- 
tution had  gone  into  effect  the  legislature  regulated  the 
rates  of  ferriage  and  forbade  competition  with  the  city's 
ferry  monopoly.  Up  to  this  time  pirogues,  rowboats,  or 
sailboats  of  antiquated  style  were  used  for  water  trans- 
portation. After  them  came  the  side-wheel,  horse-power 
boats,  but  in  181 1  leases  were  granted  for  steam  ferries  to 
Hoboken  and  Paulus  Hook.  In  1814  —  the  year  before 
the  first  named  died  —  Robert  Fulton  and  William  Cut- 
ting obtained  a  twenty-five  years'  lease  of  the  ferry  between 
New  York  and  Brooklyn.  Since  then  the  franchise  of  the 
ferries  has  been  a  growing  source  of  revenue  and  has  been 
eagerly  sought  by  both  private  citizens  and  corporations. 
The  Department  of  Docks  and  Ferries.  By  1845  tne 
docks  and  ferries  figured  so  largely  in  the  commerce  of 
the  city  that  the  governor  of  the  state  appointed  three 
commissioners  to  take  charge  of  them.  This  commission 
was  empowered  to  establish  ferries,  to  grant  licenses  for  a 
term  of  not  longer  than  ten  years,  and  to  have  the  general 
management  of  the  city's  docks  and  wharves.  During  that 
time  the  commission  was  under  the  Department  of  Public 
Works,  but  in  1871  the  Department  of  Docks  and  Ferries 
was  established.  Three  commissioners  remained  in  charge 
of  the  department  until  the  adoption  of  the  charter  of 
1898.  This  charter  abolished  the  commission  of  three 
and  vested  all  the  power  of  the  office  in  one  official,  called 
the  Commissioner  of  Docks.  This  was  done  on  the  same 


DEPARTMENT   OF   DOCKS  AND  FERRIES        219 

principle  that  the  responsibility  of  the  city  government  is 
centered  upon  the  mayor,  because  it  is  thought  wiser  that 
one  man  rather  than  several  should  be  held  responsible  for 
the  administration  of  an  office. 

Commissioner  of  Docks.  The  great  value  of  the  harbor 
property  makes  the  importance  of  the  position  held  by  the 
Commissioner  of  Docks.  His  duties  are  defined  in  the 


FIG.  152.    Fulton  Ferry  in  1740 

charter,  which  stipulates  that  he  must  be  a  resident  of  the 
city  and  provides  that  he  shall  be  appointed  by  the  mayor 
at  an  annual  salary  of  six  thousand  dollars.  He  appoints 
a  deputy  commissioner  and  the  secretaries  in  his  own 
office,  and,  under  civil  service  regulations,  he  has  the  super- 
vision of  appointment  of  all  employees  of  the  department, 
which  includes  nearly  two  thousand  men.  The  department 
controls  all  the  water  front  of  New  York  City  and  the 
property  upon  it.  The  commissioner,  with  the  approval  of 
the  Commissioners  of  the  Sinking  Fund,  executes  plans  for 


220   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

the  improvement  of  this  property.  Subject  to  their  approval 
also,  he  grants  harbor  franchises  and  privileges. 

The  Divisions  and  Officers  of  the  Department  of  Docks 
and  Ferries.  The  work  of  the  Department  of  Docks  and 
Ferries  is  performed  through  five  bureaus.  One  of  these 
is  connected  with  the  commissioner's  office ;  another,  with 
the  secretary's ;  the  third  is  under  the  Bureau  of  Con- 
struction and  Repairs,  which,  in  turn,  is  under  the  imme- 
diate care  of  the  chief  engineer  of  the  department ;  the 
fourth  is  in  charge  of  the  superintendent  of  docks  in 
the  Bureau  of  Superintendents ;  and  the  fifth  constitutes 
the  Bureau  of  Accounts  under  the  auditor. 

The  chief  engineer  prepares  the  plans  for  all  buildings 
on  the  water  front  and  submits  them  to  the  commissioner. 
If  they  carry  an  expense  in  excess  of  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars,  the  commissioner  refers  them  to  the  Com- 
missioners of  the  Sinking  Fund,  who  must  act  upon  them 
favorably  before  the  contract  can  be  let.  All  work  is  ad- 
vertised and  the  contract  is  awarded  to  the  lowest  reli- 
able bidder.  The  superintendent  of  docks  has  charge  of 
the  wharf  property  in  the  five  boroughs.  He  appoints 
about  twenty  dock  masters,  who  are  responsible  to  him  for 
the  condition  of  the  wharves.  In  addition  to  these  there 
are  a  large  number  of  assistant  engineers,  draughtsmen, 
ship  carpenters,  and  builders. 

The  Length  of  the  Piers  and  Why.  With  all  the  author- 
ity which  is  invested  in  the  Commissioner  of  Docks,  he 
has  not  the  power  to  change  the  exterior  line  of  the  piers. 
That  is  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Secretary  of  War  at 
Washington,  because  the  United  States  government  owns 
the  rivers  and  harbors  of  the  country  and  their  boundaries 


DEPARTMENT   OF  DOCKS  AND   FERRIES        221 


are  defined  by  its  laws.  To 
explain  why  this  is  so,  let  us 
suppose  that  two  cities  are 
located  on  opposite  sides  of  a 
river  and  that  one  of  them 
wants  to  make  a  change  in  its 
harbor  which  would  be  detri- 
mental to  the  other.  The  fed- 
eral government,  as  arbitrator, 
would  prohibit  it  from  doing  so. 
When  the  great  piers  were 
being  built  in  the  Chelsea  dis- 
trict of  New  York  City  a  few 
years  ago,  the  men  who  were 
interested  wanted  them  to  ex- 
tend a  thousand  feet  into  the 
water.  The  Commissioner  of 
Docks  saw  no  objection  to  this 
and  the  plans  were  so  drawn ; 
but  when  they  were  submitted 
to  the  Secretary  of  War,  as  all 
such  plans  must  be,  he  refused 
to  allow  the  piers  to  extend  into 
the  water  beyond  eight  hundred 
feet.  He  based  his  refusal  on 
the  ground  that  a  thousand-foot 
pier  would  impede  the  progress 
of  the  largest  war  vessels, 
should  it  ever  happen  that  the 
country  were  engaged  in  a  war 
in  which  it  would  be  necessary 


— *on 


222  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

to  send  battle  ships  through  the  North  River.  Sometimes 
the  piers  are  a  thousand  feet  in  length,  but  the  two  hundred 
additional  feet  are  obtained  by  building  the  piers  back  into 
the  abutting  street. 

Harbor  Franchises.  Within  the  last  fifty  years  the  city 
has  not  sold  any  of  its  harbor  property,  but  prior  to  that 
time  much  of  it  was  sold,  or  leased  for  a  long  term  of  years. 
In  consequence  of  this  it  frequently  happens  that  the  city 
now,  with  its  enlarged  shipping  business,  must  have  the 


FIG.  154.    Recreation  Pier 

same  property  back.  When  this  is  the  case  the  city  makes 
an  application  for  the  property.  Sometimes  the  parties 
who  have  possession  are  willing  to  give  it  up,  but  it  more 
often  happens  that  the  city  has  to  condemn  it  and  take  it 
through  process  of  law.  By  whichever  method  it  is  re- 
gained, the  city  is  obliged  to  pay  large  sums  of  money  for 
property  which  it  originally  owned.  The  commissioner  has 
the  power,  with  the  approval  of  the  Commissioners  of  the 
Sinking.  Fund,  to  grant  harbor  franchises;  but  far  more 
care  in  such  matters  is  exercised  now  than  in  the  early 
days  of  the  republic. 


DEPARTMENT   OF  DOCKS  AND   FERRIES        223 

Recreation  Piers.  Following  a  plan  which  has  been  in  prac- 
tice for  a  good  many  years  in  some  of  the  coast  cities  of 
Europe,  New  York  City  sets  aside  certain  piers  in  the  har- 
bor for  recreation  purposes.  As  we  learned  in  the  chapter 
on  the  Board  of  Education,  these  piers  are  under  charge 
of  that  board,  but  they  are  maintained  and  kept  in  repair 
by  the  Department  of  Docks  and  Ferries.  They  make  de- 
lightfully cool  recreation  centers,  where  all  may  go  and 
spend  the  hot  summer  afternoons  and  evenings. 

Summary.  The  Department  of  Docks  and  Ferries  is  one  of  the 
most  important  in  the  municipal  government,  because  of  the  vast  amount 
of  traffic  transacted  on  the  three  hundred  and  fifty-three  miles  of  water 
frontage  of  New  York  City.  Ferries  were  first  established  after  the 
settlement  of  Fort  Amsterdam.  As  early  as  1694  the  ferries  were 
mortgaged  by  the  city.  They  have  always  been  a  source  of  revenue 
to  the  corporation.  Three  commissioners  were  appointed  originally 
to  take  charge  of  the  docks  and  ferries.  The  department  was  estab- 
lished in  1871.  One  commissioner  succeeded  to  the  power  of  the 
three  by  the  charter  of  1898. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

THE   DEPARTMENT  OF   HEALTH 

How  the  Health  of  the  City  is  Maintained.  You  have  per- 
haps often  noticed  large  white  placards  fastened  on  the 
doors  of  apartment  houses  and  bearing  the  words  SCARLET 
FEVER,  or  a  placard  of  similar  size  labeled  DIPHTHERIA. 
Do  you  know  who  put  up  these  notices,  and  why  ?  They 
were  put  up  by  the  Department  of  Health  of  the  municipal 
government  as  a  warning  of  contagious  diseases  within. 
This  is  one  of  the  many  ways  in  which  the  department 
cares  for  the  health  of  the  citizens.  It  also  tries  to  keep 
the  city  in  a  sanitary  condition  and  to  prohibit  the  sale 
of  harmful  or  impure  food  and  drink.  To  accomplish  this 
the  department  has  over  one  thousand  employees,  among 
whom  are  physicians,  trained  nurses,  chemists,  sanitary 
inspectors  (such  as  plumbers  and  engineers),  food  inspectors, 
disinfectors,  laborers,  drivers,  domestics. 

Origin  and  Organization  of  the  Department.  Until  as  late 
as  1 866  there  was  no  Department  of  Health  in  the  old  City 
of  New  York.  The  public  health  was  under  the  care  of  a 
city  inspector,  aided  by  one  assistant  and  four  wardens. 
This  small  number  of  men,  having  but  few  health  laws  to 
enforce  and  lacking  the  knowledge  which  exists  to-day  for 
the  prevention  of  disease,  was  unable  to  check  the  epidemics 
that  swept  over  the  city.  Complaints  of  the  unhealthfulness 
of  New  York  City  grew  so  numerous  that  at  length  the  state 
legislature  appointed  a  Metropolitan  Health  Department, 

224 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH  225 

which  was  to  include  both  New  York  and  Brooklyn.  In 
1873  separate  Departments  of  Health  were  organized  in 
the  two  cities.  The  Health  Department  of  Brooklyn  had 
been  established  as  early  as  1824  and  continued  until  1898, 
when  the  boroughs  were  united  under  the  Greater  New 
York  charter.  The  present  Department  of  Health  was  then 
established  and  placed  under  the  charge  of  three  commis- 
sioners, —  the  Commissioner  of  Health  and  the  Police  Com- 
missioner, both  appointed  by  the  mayor,  and  the  Health 
Officer  of  the  Port,  who  is  appointed  by  the  governor,  and 
who  is  at  the  head  of  the  quarantine  station  in  the  harbor. 
The  Commissioner  of  Health  is  the  president  of  the  board 
and  manages  the  work  of  the  department. 

Duties  and  Powers.  The  duty  of  the  Board  of  Health  is 
to  protect  the  people  of  the  city,  so  far  as  possible,  from  sick- 
ness, injury,  and  death,  and  to  abate  common  nuisances 
even  when  not  detrimental  to  health.  It  may  regulate  or 
prohibit  any  one's  business  or  pleasure,  if  there  is  reason  to 
think  that  these  affect  the  health  of  the  community  or  are 
nuisances.  It  enforces  the  Sanitary  Code,  as  the  health 
laws  of  the  city  are  called,  and  to  do  this  its  officers  have  a 
right  to  enter  premises  where  they  think  these  laws  are  being 
violated.  The  board  may  cause  any  unsanitary  building  to 
be  cleaned,  repaired,  or  vacated.  It  has  authority  in  regard 
to  contagious  diseases,  even  to  closing  buildings  and  streets 
for  quarantine  purposes.  Extraordinary  powers  are  given 
to  it  in  case  of  epidemics.  It  enforces  the  laws  prohibit- 
ing the  sale  of  poisonous,  harmful,  and  adulterated  drugs, 
medicines,  and  foods.  It  also  enforces  all  state  laws  which 
apply  within  the  city  regarding  the  care  and  protection  of 
health,  such  as  the  laws  regulating  child  labor ;  also  those 


226  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

in  regard  to  offensive  trades,  such  as  butchering  cattle  for 
the  market,  and  like  occupations. 

The  Sanitary  Code.  That  every  one  may  know  just  what 
regulations  must  be  followed  to  insure  public  health  and 
safety,  the  Department  of  Health  publishes  the  Sanitary 
Code,  which  may  be  obtained  free  upon  application  to  that 
department.  The  decrees  in  the  code  relate  to  almost 


FIG.  155.    Corner  of  Bacteriological  Laboratory  of  Board  of  Health 

everything  that  affects  the  public  health  or  safety.  One 
of  its  regulations  is  that  street  cars  must  not  go  faster  than 
a  given  rate  around  curves ;  another  is  that  owners  of  bath 
houses  must  fence  in  that  part  of  the  beach  known  to  be 
safe  for  surf  bathing.  It  prohibits  spitting  upon  sidewalks 
or  upon  floors  in  public  buildings,  a  practice  which  sets  free 
germs  of  disease  to  float  in  the  air  and  to  be  breathed  into 
the  lungs.  The  code  has  the  force  of  city  ordinances,  and 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH       227 

any  violation  of  it  is  a  misdemeanor  and  is  punishable  by  fine 
or  imprisonment.  Certain  patrolmen  of  the  Police  Depart- 
ment are  assigned  to  duty  in  the  Department  of  Health,  for 
the  purpose  of  enforcing  its  orders.  These  men  are  known 
as  the  Health  Squad,  and  wear  green  bands  with  red  crosses 
on  the  sleeves  of  their  uniforms. 

The  Sanitary  Bureau.  There  are  two  bureaus  in  the  De- 
partment of  Health,  —  the  Sanitary  Bureau  and  the  Bureau 
of  Records.  The  Sanitary  Bureau  has  charge  of  everything 
that  pertains  to  the  healthful  condition  of  the  city,  while  the 
Bureau  of  Records  classifies  and  keeps  the  statistics  of  the 
department.  The  Sanitary  Bureau  is  under  the  control  of 
a  sanitary  superintendent,  who  has  an  assistant  in  each  bor- 
ough. The  work  is  subdivided  into  several  divisions, — those 
of  inspection,  of  contagious  diseases,  of  communicable  dis- 
eases, laboratories,  and  of  hospitals.  Each  division  has  its  own 
interesting  and  important  work  and  is  in  charge  of  a  chief. 

Division  of  Inspection.  Sanitary  inspection  consists  in 
inspecting  the  entire  city  regularly  to  keep  it  a  healthful 
place  in  which  to  live.  For  this  purpose  the  city  is  divided 
into  districts  with  an  inspector  in  charge  of  each.  The 
inspector  looks  out  for  overcrowding  in  his  districts,  for 
proper  ventilation  and  light,  for  accumulations  of  filth  and 
rubbish,  and  for  other  violations  of  the  Sanitary  Code.  He 
also  investigates  special  complaints  of  citizens  who  call 
attention  to  unhealthful  conditions.  If  a  man  reports  a 
pool  of  stagnant  water  in  his  neighborhood,  it  is  at  once 
visited  by  an  inspector,  and  if  found  unsanitary  an  order 
is  issued  to  the  owner  that  it  must  be  drained  or  filled  in. 

Inspection  of  Foods.  The  food  which  we  eat  goes  to  build 
up  our  bodies  and  to  furnish  us  with  strength.  If,  however, 


228  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

the  food  is  unwholesome,  not  only  do  we  fail  to  receive 
the  needed  nourishment,  but  often  illness  is  caused.  To 
prevent  the  sale  of  such  unwholesome  food,  one  set  of 
inspectors  from  the  Division  of  Food  Inspection  is  con- 
stantly examining  foods.  The  slaughterhouses,  markets, 
and  commission  houses  are  visited  regularly,  and  all  un- 
sound meat,  fish,  poultry,  eggs,  vegetables,  and  fruits  are 
seized  and  destroyed.  The  early  morning  finds  inspectors 
at  the  harbor  ports,  through  which  pass  great  quantities  of 


FIG.  156.    Where  the  Food  is  inspected  before  it  leaves  the 
Railway  Station 

fruits  from  Italy,  Sicily,  and  other  Mediterranean  ports,  and 
from  various  parts  of  our  own  country.  Inspectors  remain 
at  the  markets  all  day  to  prevent  the  sale  of  unwholesome 
food.  Milk  is  examined  at  the  railroad  stations  and  docks 
where  it  comes  in,  as  well  as  at  the  various  stores  and  milk 
depots.  All  food  must  come  up  to  the  standard  of  purity 
given  in  the  Sanitary  Code ;  if  it  does  not,  it  may  be  de- 
stroyed by  the  inspectors.  Every  year  thousands  of  pounds 
of  unwholesome  meats,  fruits,  and  other  foods  are  destroyed, 
as  well  as  quantities  of  adulterated  milk  and  other  liquids. 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH       229 

Division  of  Contagious  Diseases.  If  a  person  is  ill  of  a 
contagious  disease,  and  is  not  at  once  put  into  a  room  apart, 
with  only  his  nurse  to  care  for  him,  he  may  give  the  disease 
to  every  one  coming  in  contact  with  him.  If  these  precau- 
tions are  not  taken,  the  district  medical  inspector  warns  the 
family  that  if  the  patient  is  not  at  once  secluded  he  will  be 
removed  to  a  hospital.  In  seriously  contagious  diseases, 
like  smallpox,  no  risk  is  taken  of  exposing  others ;  the 
patient  is  at  once  removed  to  a  hospital.  When  any  case 
is  reported  to  the  department  the  patient  is  visited  in  his 
home  by  the  district  medical  inspector.  If  other  families  live 
in  the  house,  they  are  warned  of  the  disease.  All  cases  of 
contagious  disease  must  be  reported  to  the  department,  that 
every  safeguard  may  be  taken  to  prevent  their  spread. 

Medical  School  Inspectors.  Children  of  the  public  schools 
have  a  special  corps  of  medical  inspectors  who  visit  the 
various  schools  every  morning.  If  an  ailing  child,  called  to 
the  attention  of  the  medical  inspector  by  the  teacher,  has 
a  contagious  disease,  he  is  sent  home  until  he  has  recovered 
and  all  danger  of  communicating  the  disease  is  past.  At 
intervals  the  medical  inspector  makes  a  round  of  all  the 
class  rooms,  personally  examining  the  eyelids,  throat,  hair, 
and  skin  of  each  pupil. 

School  Nurses.  After  a  child  is  excluded  from  the  public 
school  because  of  minor  contagious  disease  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  school  nurse  to  visit  him  in  his  home  in  order  to  make 
sure  that  his  parents  understand  his  ailment.  In  case  no 
physician  is  in  charge,  the  nurse  explains  the  remedies 
and  treatment  prescribed  by  the  medical  school  inspector. 
Each  nurse  has  from  three  to  five  schools  which  she  visits 
each  day  in  turn,  receiving  a  list  of  the  ailing  children  from 


230  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

the  medical  inspector.  By  this  system  of  medical  inspection, 
followed  by  nursing,  the  sick  children  are  cared  for  and  the 
well  children  are  protected. 

Employment  Certificates.  Many  children  used  to  leave 
school  early  to  go  to  work,  assuming  tasks  which  often 
stunted  their  growth  and  weakened  their  health.  These 
children  lost  the  pleasure  and  health  of  childhood.  To  pro- 
tect the  child  the  state  passed  a  child-labor  law,  applying 


FIG.  157.   Vaccination  Office  of  the  Board  of  Health 

to  all  children  under  sixteen.  This  prohibits  any  child 
under  fourteen  years  of  age  from  going  out  to  work  under 
any  circumstances,  and  only  those  between  fourteen  and 
sixteen  can  go  who  obtain  employment  certificates.  These 
may  be  had  after  passing  a  simple  examination  in  reading, 
writing,  and  spelling,  in  English.  The  child  is  permitted  to 
take  this  examination  on  bringing  a  written  statement  from 
the  principal  of  his  school  saying  that  he  has  attended 
school  for  one  hundred  and  thirty  days  after  his  thirteenth 
birthday,  and  is  competent  to  take  the  examination. 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH       231 

Vaccination.  All  school  children  are  required  to  be 
vaccinated  by  their  own  physicians  or  by  those  of  the 
Department  of  Health,  in  order  to  make  them  immune  to 
smallpox.  This  disease,  which  used  to  be  so  dreaded,  is  now 
practically  under  control,  through  a  system  of  quarantine 
which  makes  an  epidemic  impossible,  and  through  the  prac- 
tice of  vaccination.  It  is  considered  wiser  to  be  vaccinated 
every  two  or  three  years,  and  vaccinators  of  the  depart- 
ment are  always  ready  to  vaccinate  any  one  on  request. 


FIG.  158.   Riverside  Hospital 

Whenever  a  case  of  smallpox  occurs  in  the  city  a  squad 
of  vaccinators  visit  the  locality  to  vaccinate  all  the  people 
living  on  that  block.  Care  is  taken  to  keep  the  inmates  of 
all  charitable  institutions  immune  to  smallpox.  When  the 
disease  is  prevalent  in  the  city  extra  precaution  is  taken  ; 
several  squads  of  vaccinators  are  formed,  who  visit,  on 
request,  all  the  stores,  factories,  and  hotels,  vaccinating  the 
people  free  of  charge  at  any  hour  of  the  day  or  night. 

Hospitals.  Any  person  ill  with  a  contagious  or  other  dis- 
ease may  be  cared  for  in  one  of  the  hospitals  connected  with 
the  department.  This  privilege  is  a  blessing  to  a  patient 


232     GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY   OF  NEW  YORK 

who  cannot  be  properly  cared  for  at  home ;  perhaps  he 
cannot  be  properly  isolated,  or  he  may  be  living  in  a  hotel 
or  boarding  house,  or  may  be  poor  or  friendless.  In  any 
one  of  these  cases  an  ambulance  is  sent  to  carry  him  to 
the  hospital,  which  is  supplied  with  physicians  and  nurses 
and  adequate  means  of  caring  for  him. 

Division  of  Laboratories.  In  the  chemical  laboratory  of 
the  Sanitary  Bureau  samples  of  food  are  tested.  If  they  are 
found  to  contain  anything  hurtful,  which  causes  them  to 


FIG.  159.    Hospital  Ambulances 

fall  below  the  standard  of  the  Sanitary  Code,  the  goods  are 
seized  Wherever  found,  and  destroyed.  Croton  and  other 
water  supplies  of  the  city  are  examined  every  week,  that 
the  condition  of  each  reservoir  and  pumping  station  may 
be  known  and  the  water  kept  pure.  Another  important 
part  of  the  work  is  to  analyze  milk.  When  so  many  little 
children  are  dependent  on  this  food,  there  must  be  no  risk 
that  it  is  adulterated  or  spoiled.  In  short,  the  work  of  the 
laboratories  is  to  detect  adulterations  in  foods,  that  they 
may  contain  nothing  injurious  to  health. 


THE  DEPARTMENT   OF   HEALTH 


233 


On  an  upper  floor  of  the  building  belonging  to  the 
Department  of  Health  is  the  diagnosis  laboratory,  in  which 
fluids  of  the  body  are  examined  to  see  if  they  contain  the 
germs  of  disease.  For  example,  a  few  drops  of  blood  from 
a  needle  prick  show  whether  or  not  the  patient  has  malaria. 
Small  quantities  of  other  fluids  reveal  traces  of  tuberculosis 
or  typhoid  fever.  There  are  laboratories  at  the  foot  of 
East  Sixteenth  Street  where  interesting  experiments  are 
made.  In  one  of 
them  a  large  number 
of  rabbits,  guinea 
pigs,  calves,  and 
horses  are  kept  by 
the  department. 
Upon  these  animals 
experiments  are 
made  for  manufac- 
turing the  serums 
and  virus  which  sci- 
entists have  found 
will  cure  or  prevent 
diseases  such  as 
diphtheria,  hydrophobia,  or  typhoid  fever.  Physicians  of  the 
city  are  given  serums  and  virus  free  in  order  that  they  may 
administer  them  to  poor  people  without  charge,  and  upon 
application  to  the  Board  of  Health  these  are  administered 
free  to  those  who  have  no  physician. 

For  the  study  of  bacteria  experiments  are  made  in  the 
research  laboratory  with  different  kinds  of  milk,  —  bottled, 
condensed,  and  other  kinds.  After  watching  a  number  of 
children  both  summer  and  winter,  who  were  fed  on  milk 


FIG.  160.    Chemical  Laboratory  where 
Water  is  Analyzed 


234 


GOVERNMENT   OF  THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 


from  these  sources,  a  helpful  report  was  issued  to  mothers 
and  physicians,  giving  the  results  from  pure  and  impure 
milk  used  in  the  tenement  houses  and  various  institutions 
of  the  city.  At  another  time  malaria,  a  disease  common  in 
some  parts  of  the  city,  was  studied,  with  the  result  that 
people  were  cautioned  against  a  variety  of  mosquito  which 
often  caused  that  disease,  while  simple  remedies  for  the 


FIG.  161.    Animals  kept  by  the  Board  of  Health  for  testing  Serums 

cure  of  the  disease,  and  means  of  exterminating  the  mos- 
quito, were  suggested.  Much  is  learned  about  caring  for 
contagious  diseases  from  the  helpful  investigations  of  the 
research  laboratory. 

Disinfection.  After  a  case  of  contagious  disease  the  pa- 
tient's room  and  clothing  are  disinfected,  that  any  remaining 
germs  of  the  disease  may  be  destroyed.  While  the  depart- 
ment is  willing  to  disinfect  after  any  contagious  disease,  it 
insists  upon  doing  so  after  the  more  serious  diseases,  ex- 
cept in  private  homes,  when  the  work  is  occasionally 
intrusted  to  the  attending  physician.  Under  the  process 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF   HEALTH  235 

of  disinfection  all  washable  goods  are  either  burned  or 
soaked  for  several  hours  in  a  strong  disinfectant  solution. 
Nonwashable  goods,  such  as  rugs,  mattresses,  and  pillows, 
are  removed  in  bags  by  special  wagons  to  the  disinfecting 
station.  Here,  in  separate  rooms,  wagon  and  goods  are  dis- 
infected by  steam  or  by  gas.  Meantime  the  patient's  home 
is  disinfected.  The  woodwork  and  windows  are  washed 
with  a  solution,  after  which  the  room  is  sealed  and  exposed 
to  the  disinfecting  gas.  The  room  is  known  to  be  thoroughly 
safe  if  other  bacteria  of  the  disease,  placed  alive  in  it,  are 
found  to  be  destroyed  when  the  room  is  opened.  Stores, 
steamboats,  and  even  railroad  cars  are  disinfected  whenever 
it  is  necessary. 

Bureau  of  Records.  A  registry  of  births  is  kept  by  phy- 
sicians and  nurses,  and  these  are  submitted  to  the  Depart- 
ment of  Health.  The  birth  of  every  child  born  in  the  city 
is  required  to  be  reported  to  the  Department  of  Health 
within  ten  days.  When  the  child  grows  up,  if  he  marries 
this  fact  is  also  recorded,  with  his  name,  age,  and  place  of 
residence,  by  the  person  performing  the  marriage  ceremony. 
When  death  comes  it  should  be  reported  within  five  days 
by  the  next  of  kin,  as  well  as  noted  in  the  registry  of  the 
physician,  giving  the  age,  color,  nativity,  last  occupation, 
the  cause  of  death,  and  the  borough,  street,  and  residence 
where  it  occurred.  Failure  to  report  births,  marriages,  or 
deaths  is  a  misdemeanor.  These  records  are  preserved 
at  the  Department  of  Health,  and  any  one  may  have  a  copy 
for  a  fee  of  fifty  cents,  this  being  the  only  charge  that  is 
made  by  the  department  for  services  of  any  kind.  The 
money  thus  obtained  goes  toward  the  pension  fund  of  the 
department. 


236     GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 

Summary.  The  Department  of  Health  was  established  to  protect 
the  people  of  the  city  from  nuisances,  sickness,  injury,  or  death.  The 
department  tries  to  keep  the  city  in  a  healthful  condition  and  to  pre- 
vent the  sale  of  unwholesome  and  harmfully  adulterated  foods.  It 
looks  after  contagious  diseases,  guards  against  their  spread,  and 
manufactures  means  for  their  check,  in  such  remedies  as  antitoxins 
and  virus.  It  experiments  to  discover  further  knowledge  of  the  nature 
of  contagious  diseases  and  better  methods  for  their  control.  The 
department  is  under  the  charge  of  three  commissioners  and  has  a 
large  force  of  sanitary  and  medical  inspectors,  chemical  and  bacterio- 
logical laboratories,  and  well-equipped  hospitals.  A  Sanitary  Code, 
having  the  force  of  city  ordinances,  is  issued  by  the  department,  that 
the  citizens  may  cooperate  in  things  necessary  for  the  city's  health. 
Great  care  is  exercised  in  keeping  the  food  pure  which  is  on  sale  in 
the  city  markets.  Inspectors  examine  it  as  it  arrives  at  the  railway 
stations  and  boat  landings,  while  samples  of  suspected  food  are  tested 
in  the  laboratories  of  the  department.  Disinfection  is  one  of  the 
health  regulations  of  the  Sanitary  Code  and  is  effectual  in  preventing 
the  spread  of  disease.  The  Bureau  of  Records  keeps  a  record  of  all 
births,  marriages,  and  deaths  in  the  city. 


CHAPTER  XX 


THE  TENEMENT  HOUSE  DEPARTMENT 

The  Necessity  of  the  Tenement  House  Department.    It  has 

been  found  that  people  cannot  be  healthy  if  they  live  in 
unhealthful  homes.  They  need  plenty  of  light,  fresh  air,  and 
room.  Their  houses  should  be  clean  and  free  from  damp- 
ness, the  plumbing  should  be  sound  and  tight  to  prevent 
the  entrance  of 
sewer  gas,  there 
should  be  a  good 
supply  of  fresh 
water,  and  also 
sufficient  ventila- 
tion and  light.  In 
short,  homes 
should  be  sanitary. 

The  fact  that  just 

I 


the  opposite  of 
such  conditions 
long  existed  in 
most  of  the  tene- 
ments of  New 


FIG.  162.    Fireproof  Hall  and  Stairway  built 
according  to  the  Tenement  House  Law 


York  City  led  to  the  origin  of  the  Tenement  House  Depart- 
ment. Certain  sections  of  the  city  became  densely  settled, 
and  in  these  overcrowded  sections  the  homes  of  the  very 
poor  were  known  as  "tenement  houses."  In  recent  years 
the  name  "tenement  house"  has  been  broadly  denned  by 

237 


238     GOVERNMENT   OF  THE   CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


law  to  include  also  the  luxuriant  apartment  houses  on  the 
more  fashionable  streets,  but  then  it  had  a  narrower  mean- 
ing. The  law  defines  a  tenement  house  as  any  building 
occupied,  or  designed  for  occupancy,  by  three  or  more  fam- 
ilies living  independently  of  each 
other  and  doing  their  cooking 
on  the  premises. 

Thousands  of  these  early  tene- 
ment houses  were  poorly  venti- 
lated, dark,  and  unsanitary.  The 
condition  of  these  wretched 
houses  first  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  public-spirited  citizens 
about  fifty  years  ago,  and  a  com- 
mission was  appointed  to  investi- 
gate the  problem  and  to  suggest 
a  remedy.  From  time  to  time 
other  commissions  were  ap- 
pointed to  look  into  the  matter 
and  various  laws  were  passed  for 

FIG.  163.  Hallway  and  Entrance     the  better  housing  of  the  people, 
of  a  Neglected  House  ~  \ 

These  laws  were  finally  collected 

and  codified,  and  are  known  as  the  Tenement  House  Law. 
Since  then  better  houses  have  been  built,  many  of  which 
are  costly  and  artistic.  It  was  estimated  that  in  1906  there 
were  a  hundred  thousand  tenement  houses  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  and  that  more  than  two  million  four  hundred 
thousand  people  reside  in  them.  Since  so  large  a  number 
of  the  citizens  live  in  tenements,  it  is  plainly  necessary  that 
there  should  be  laws  requiring  that  they  should  be  erected 
and  maintained  in  a  sanitary  manner'.  When  these  laws  were 


THE  TENEMENT  HOUSE  DEPARTMENT    239 


first  made,  power  to  enforce  them  belonged  to  different  de- 
partments, some  to  the  Department  of  Health,  others  to  the 
Police  Department.  But  these  departments  already  had  so 
much  to  look  after  that  in  April,  1901,  the  state  legislature 
passed  an  act  creating  the  Tenement  House  Department, 
which  was  to  have  entire  control  of  enforcing  the  law. 

The  Tenement  House  Commissioner.  Under  that  act  a 
commissioner  of  the  Tenement  House  Department  is  ap- 
pointed by  the  mayor;  this  commissioner  has  charge  of  the 
department  and  of 
the  enforcement 
of  the  law.  He  has 
over  four  hundred 
officials  to  assist 
him,  most  of  whom 
are  appointed  and 
promoted  by  civil 
service  regula- 
tions. He  appoints 
the  first  and  sec- 
ond deputy  com- 
missioners. The 
first  deputy  assists 
him  in  the  main 
office  in  Manhattan  ;  the  second  has  charge  of  the  Brooklyn 
office,  which  also  has  under  its  supervision  the  tenements  of 
Queens  and  Richmond.  A  third  office,  which  has  charge 
of  the  tenements  of  The  Bronx,  is  under  a  superintendent. 

Organization  of  the  Department  into  Four  Bureaus :  the 
Executive  Bureau.  Each  of  the  four  bureaus  of  the  depart- 
ment enforces  some  special  part  of  the  Tenement  House 


FIG.  164.    Staircase  of  a  House  built  before  the 
Enactment  of  the  Tenement  House  Law 


240     GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 


Law.  The  Executive  Bureau  carries  on  the  correspondence 
of  the  department  with  the  public,  so  it  is  with  this  bureau 
that  the  citizens  come  in  contact.  Complaints  "are  received 
here.  If  the  cellar  of  a  tenement  is  damp,  imperiling  the 
health  of  the  people  in  the  house,  they  may  report  it.  The 

matter  is  then  referred 
to  another  bureau  for 
investigation.  If  found 
as  complainant  stated, 
the  Executive  Bureau 
issues  an  order  to  the 
owner  to  have  the  cellar 
made  dry,  as  he  is  violat- 
ing a  part  of  the  Tene- 
ment House  Law. 

The  New  Building 
Bureau.  No  owner  may 
build  a  new  tenement 
house,  or  even  alter  an 
old-style  tenement,  with- 
out first  submitting  his 
plans  for  approval  to  the 
New  Building  Bureau. 
By  old-style  tenements 
is  meant  all  those  built  prior  to  the  law  of  1891 ;  new  tene- 
ments, those  built  since.  The  plans  submitted  must  give 
the  size  of  rooms,  width  of  hall,  size  of  courts,  depth  of 
yards,  and  the  provisions  for  fireproofing.  The  plans  must 
also  show  arrangements  for  an  adequate  amount  of  light  and 
air,  and  means  of  ventilation.  If  all  these  conform  to  the 
required  regulations,  a  certificate  is  issued  to  the  persons 


FIG.  165.    House  Area:  Drain  covered 
with  Dirt 


THE  TENEMENT  HOUSE  DEPARTMENT    241 


submitting  the  plans.  But  the  work  of  this  bureau  does  not 
stop  here.  It  sends  out  inspectors  from  time  to  time  during 
the  progress  of  the  building  to  see  that  there  are  no  devia- 
tions from  the  plans.  If  there  are  such,  they  are  reported, 
and  must  be  changed  before  the  work  may  continue.  Even 
when  completed  the 
building  may  not  be  oc- 
cupied by  tenants  until 
a  final  inspection  has 
been  made  to  see  that  it 
complies  in  all  respects  I  r  < 

with  the  Tenement 
House  Law.  Then  a  cer- 
tificate is  issued  to  that 
effect.  If  a  house  is 
rented  before  the  cer- 
tificate is  issued,  the 
Department  of  Water 
Supply,  Gas,  and  Elec- 
tricity cuts  off  the  water 
from  the  building,  rent 
cannot  be  recovered  by 
the  owner,  and  other 
means  are  taken  to  prevent  occupancy. 

The  Old  Building  Bureau,  or  Inspection  Bureau.  After 
tenements  are  completed  the  inspectors  from  the  Old  Build- 
ing Bureau  see  that  they  are  kept  in  good  condition.  Inspect- 
ors are  sent  out  in  answer  to  complaints  made  by  citizens 
to  the  Executive  Bureau,  but  the  department  divides  the 
city  into  inspection  districts  and  has  inspectors  in  each  of 
them.  If  a  woman  writes  that  the  owner  refuses  to  repair 


FIG.  1 66.    Same  Area  Cleaned 


242     GOVERNMENT  OF  THE   CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 

a  leak  in  the  roof  of  the  house  she  is  occupying,  the  in- 
spector in  that  district  goes  and  examines  the  house.  If 
its  condition  shows  a  violation  of  the  law,  the  inspector  fills 
out  a  printed  card  notifying  the  owner  of  the  house  that 
repairs  must  be  made  or  he  will  be  subject  to  the  law.  The 


FIG.  167.  A  Neglected  Back  Yard 

inspectors  make  a  regular  "  house-to-house "  canvass  in 
each  of  their  districts  and  keep  records  of  good  as  well  as 
bad  conditions,  such  as  the  dryness  of  the  cellar,  the  clean- 
liness of  the  halls,  the  condition  of  the  plumbing  through- 
out the  house,  whether  there  are  enough  cans  for  garbage 
and  rubbish,  and  where  they  are  kept.  If  these  records 
show  any  violation  of  the  law,  then  orders  are  issued  by 
the  department  to  the  owner.  If  the  owner  refuses  to 
remedy  it,  as  seldom  happens,  he  is  brought  into  court  for 
breaking  a  city  ordinance.  When  a  serious  condition  exists 
in  a  tenement,  photographs  of  defects  are  taken  so  that  the 


THE  TENEMENT  HOUSE   DEPARTMENT         243 


facts  cannot  be  disputed.  Work  does  not  stop  here.  After 
a  few  days  reinspections  are  made  to  find  out  whether  the 
orders  issued  by  the  department  have  been  complied  with 
by  the  owner.  Wherever  photographs  of  the  defects  have 


FIG.  168.    The  Same  Yard  Cleaned  and  Concreted 

been  taken,  new  ones  are  made  of  the  improved  conditions, 
when  the  repairs  are  completed, 

The  Bureau  of  Records  gathers  and  arranges  statistics  in 
regard  to  tenement  houses.  It  keeps  open  files  containing 
the  printed  cards  made  out  by  the  inspectors  These  are 
arranged  in  alphabetical  lists  according  to  streets,  with  the 
tenements  in  the  order  in  which  they  come  in  the  blocks. 
Aside  from  these  the  bureau  keeps  the  sanitary  reports,  on 
different  colored  cards,  of  all  the  contagious  diseases  occur- 
ring in  the  tenement  houses.  Every  morning  a  clerk  from 


244  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


FIG.  189.    Public  Sink  in  a  Tenement  House 


FIG.  170.    A  Sanitary  Sink 


the  Bureau  of  Records 
goes  to  the  Depart- 
ment of  Health  to 
copy  the  record  of  all 
cases  where  tenement 
houses  have  been  dis- 
infected after  disease. 
Then  an  inspector  is 
sent  out  from  the  Old 
Building  Bureau  to 
examine  the  plumbing 
of  the  house  where  the 
illness  occurred,  for 
the  cause  of  certain 
diseases  has  often 
been  traced  to  gas  from 
sewers.  If  several  cases 
of  illness  occur  in  the 
same  house,  a  more 
thorough  examination  is 
made  to  see  if  anything 
further  is  unsanitary. 
When  several  orders  of  a 
serious  nature  have  been 
issued  from  time  to  time 
to  improve  the  same 
house,  it  is  marked 
"neglected  house"  in 
the  records.  It  is  then 
closely  watched  until  all 
violations  are  removed 


THE  TENEMENT  HOUSE  DEPARTMENT         245 

and  it  is  again  in  a  sanitary  condition.  Various  other  records 
are  kept  bearing  on  the  work  of  the  department.  For  ex- 
ample, ward  maps  have  been  made,  showing  the  location  of 
the  tenement  houses,  the  amount  of  ground  occupied  by 
each,  the  number  of  persons  to  an  acre,  and  the  number 
of  families  and  their  nationalities.  Thus  the  Bureau  of 
Records  has  a  complete  directory  of  the  tenement  houses, 
with  various  kinds  of  information  concerning  each.  In  this 
way  the  work  of  the  department  is  done  with  an  intelli- 
gent knowledge  of  past  and  present  conditions. 

Summary.  The  Tenement  House  Department  has  charge  of  the 
enforcement  of  the  Tenement  House  Law.  This  law  is  needed  to  insure 
the  erection  of  safe  and  sanitary  tenement  houses,  and  the  keeping  of 
them  in  good  condition.  Statistics  show  that  before  the  enforcement 
of  the  law  many  buildings  were  dark,  poorly  ventilated,  overcrowded, 
and  dirty.  Since  the  enforcement  less  sickness  and  fewer  deaths  occur 
because  of  the  more  healthful  conditions.  While  there  is  still  room  for 
improvement,  tenement  houses  are  becoming  pleasanter,  safer,  and  more 
comfortable  homes.  The  Tenement  House  Department  was  established 
by  the  charter  of  1901.  It  is  under  the  supervision  of  a  commissioner 
and  its  work  is  divided  among  four  bureaus. 


FIG.  171.    Patients  at  City  Hospital  leaving  for  a  Day's  Outing 
down  the  Bay 


CHAPTER  XXI 

THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  PUBLIC  CHARITIES 

The  Dependent  Classes  of  New  York  City.  In  accordance 
with  the  provision  of  the  Poor  Law  of  the  state  of  New 
York,  poor  persons  are  maintained  by  the  town,  city,  county, 
or  state  in  which  they  reside.  In  New  York  City  there  is  a 
large  number  who  come  under  the  head  of  "poor  persons." 
There  are  those  who  have  but  little  money  and  who  depend 
from  day  to  day  upon  the  wages  they  earn  for  the  necessities 
of  life.  If  work  is  scarce,  or  if  they  are  ill,  they  must  have 
aid  from  some  outside  source,  or  they  and  those  dependent 
upon  them  suffer  want,  or  even  starve  to  death. 

Early  Charity  Organizations.  For  many  centuries  poverty 
was  looked  upon  as  though  it  were  a  crime.  People  who  were 
unsuccessful  were  not  given  much  sympathy.  Those  who 
had  money  did  not  feel  obliged  to  supply  the  needs  of  those 
who  had  but  little.  It  has  taken  the  world  nineteen  hundred 
years  to  learn  the  lesson  of  the  brotherhood  of  man  as  it  was 

246 


THE   DEPARTMENT  OF   PUBLIC  CHARITIES      247 

taught  by  the  Teacher  of  Nazareth  so  long  ago  on  the  green 
Galilean  hills.  Happily  it  has  been  learning  that  lesson  more 
rapidly  in  recent  years  than  in  all  the  centuries  which  pre- 
ceded them. 

As  New  York  City  has  always  been  the  leading  seaport 
town  in  America,  its  population  has  necessarily  been  made 
up  of  people  of  many  nationalities.  When  immigrants  come 
to  our  shores  the  majority  of  them  bring  but  little  money, 
and  until  they  can  earn  the  means  with  which  to  establish 
themselves  in  their  new  homes,  they  are  usually  very  poor. 
It  follows  that  they  constitute  a  large  part  of  New  York 
City's  dependent  classes.  In  colonial  days  there  were  com- 
paratively few  poor  people  among  the  colonists,  and  those 
few  were  cared  for  by  the  churches.  In  1691  Mayor  De 
Peyster  suggested  that  the  city,  instead  of  the  churches, 
should  have  the  charge  of  paupers.  Each  alderman  was 
instructed  to  make  a  list  of  the  poor  in  his  ward.  By  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  first  almshouse  had 
been  established  in  New  Amsterdam,  and  in  1658  the  first 
hospital  in  America  was  opened  in  connection  with  it. 

The  Establishment  of  Bellevue  Hospital.  The  almshouse 
stood  on  the  west  side  of  Broad  Street,  just  north  of  Beaver 
Street.  The  hospital  remained  a  part  of  it  until,  from  long 
usage,  the  buildings  became  uninhabitable.  This  led  the  Com- 
mon Council,  in  1734,  to  provide  for  the  erection  of  a  new 
almshouse.  The  location  selected  was  the  open  space  north  of 
town  known  as  The  Commons.  When  this  almshouse  was 
completed  in  1736  a  large  room  containing  six  beds  was  set 
aside  as  an  infirmary  where  charity  patients  were  cared  for. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  one  of  New  York's  greatest 
charity  institutions,  —  Bellevue  Hospital.  It  was  the  only 


248 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  PUBLIC  CHARITIES      249 

provision  which  the  town  made  for  its  sick  poor  for  many 
years,  but  after  a  dreadful  scourge  of  cholera,  a  disease 
very  prevalent  in  those  days,  the  city  bought  property  and 
established  a  hospital  as  a  separate  institution  from  the  alms- 
house.  Five  acres  of  the  Kip  Bay  Farm,  a  large  estate  lying 
in  the  northeast  of  the  town,  were  purchased  and  the  house 
upon  it  converted  into  a  hospital.  The  land  faced  the  East 
River  between  the  streets  which  have  since  become  Twenty- 
sixth  and  Thirtieth.  The  hospital  took  the  name  of  the 
estate,  Bellevue.  Many  other  charitable  institutions  were 
established  during  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
The  Department  of  Public  Charities.  For  forty  years  the 
municipal  government  of  New  York  City  had  an  organiza- 
tion, usually  as  a  bureau  of  some  department,  to  look  after 
the  welfare  of  the  less  fortunate  classes  among  the  people. 
With  the  adoption  of  the  charter  of  1901  this  bureau  was 
made  one  of  the  fifteen  administrative  departments  of  the 
city  government,  and  is  called  the  Department  of  Public 
Charities.  It  has  charge  of  all  the  charitable  institutions 
of  the  city  and  dispenses  all  its  benevolences.  At  its  head 
is  a  commissioner,  who  is  appointed  by  the  mayor  at  a 
salary  of  seven  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  per  year. 
The  main  office  is  at  the  foot  of  East  Twenty-sixth  Street 
in  Manhattan,  with  a  branch  office  in  Brooklyn  under  a 
deputy  commissioner,  and  another  on  Staten  Island  in 
charge  of  the  superintendent  of  the  Bureau  of  Dependent 
Adults.  The  commissioner  of  charities  acts  as  a  general 
overseer  of  the  poor  of  the  city.  He  makes  the  regulations 
for  the  department  and  is  responsible  for  the  management 
of  the  institutions  under  it.  He  sees  that  proper  records 
are  kept  of  all  the  inmates  of  these  institutions ;  appoints, 


250   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

with  power  of  removal,  two  deputies ;  and,  subject  to  civil 
service  regulations,  fills  all  subordinate  positions  connected 
with  the  department. 

Philanthropy  of  the  Department  of  Public  Charities.  The 
philanthropy  of  the  Department  of  Public  Charities  reaches 
every  class  of  the  needy  in  the  city.  While  the  Bureau. of 


FIG.  173.    Public  School  No.  126,  Brooklyn 

Dependent  Adults  (formerly  Outdoor  Poor)  is  primarily  for 
the  reception  of  adults,  it  receives,  at  the  headquarters  at 
the  foot  of  Twenty-sixth  Street,  all  the  needy  who  apply 
for  admittance  to  the  various  institutions  under  the  depart- 
ment. The  applications  of  children  are  received  at  the 
Bureau  of  Dependent  Children.  It  is  one  of  the  city  regula- 
tions that  whenever  a  child  under  sixteen  years  of  age  is 
arrested,  the  magistrate  of  the  juvenile  court  must  notify 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  PUBLIC  CHARITIES      251 

the  commissioner  of  charities  and  the  president  of  the 
Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children.  The 
commissioner  sees  that  such  children,  and  all  others  whose 
condition  demands  it,  are  cared  for.  When  it  is  found  that 
parents  are  too  poor  to  take  care  of  their  children,  or  that 
the  children  are  orphans,  the  department  takes  them  in 
charge.  They  are  sometimes  placed  in  private  families  and 


FIG.  174.   East  Wing,  Main  Building,  Metropolitan  Hospital 

boarded  at  the  city's  expense,  or  they  are  put  in  one  of  the 
institutions  under  the  Department  of  Public  Charities,  or 
in  some  religious  or  philanthropic  institution,  where  they 
are  boarded  also  at  the  expense  of  the  city.  Besides  this 
the  department  maintains  a  large  municipal  lodging  house, 
giving  temporary  shelter  to  thousands  of  homeless  persons 
every  year,  who  otherwise  would  suffer  want  and  hunger. 
It  has  charge  of  the  two  city  morgues,  where  the  bodies 
of  the  unknown  dead  are  kept  until  they  are  claimed  by 
their  friends.  If  not  identified,  the  bodies  are  given  a 


252   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

decent  burial  either  in  the  potter's  field  on  Hart's  Island  or 
in  one  of  the  four  other  public  burying  grounds  of  the  city. 

The  Institutions  under  the  Department.  Blackwell's 
Island  was  purchased  by  New  York  City  in  1821  as  a 
headquarters  for  its  charity  and  corrective  institutions. 
Among  the  buildings  which  are  now  located  there  are  the 
City  and  the  Metropolitan  hospitals,  together  with  the 
training  school  for  nurses  connected  with  each  ;  the  Home 
for  the  Aged  and  Infirm ;  the  buildings  for  the  treatment 
of  tuberculosis,  maternity,  and  erysipelas  patients  ;  the  peni- 
tentiary and  the  workhouse.  With  these  there  are  work- 
shops, stores,  and  kindred  buildings.  The  training  schools 
provide  nurses  for  the  City,  Metropolitan,  Gouverneur, 
Harlem,  and  Fordham  hospitals.  While  the  last-named 
three  are  allied  hospitals  of  Bellevue,  and  as  such  are 
no  longer  under  the  department,  they  all  receive  charity 
patients.  Bellevue  is  one  of  the  largest  hospitals  in  the 
state ;  it  has  several  hundred  beds  for  the  indigent  sick, 
and  its  maintenance  costs  the  city  six  hundred  thousand 
dollars  annually. 

The  City  Hospital.  When  the  Revolution  broke  out  a 
hospital  building  was  just  being  finished  on  Thomas  Street 
and  Broadway.  It  was  intended  for  charity  patients,  but 
the  war  checked  its  philanthropic  mission ;  for  instead  of 
being  finished  for  the  sick,  the  soldiers  took  possession  of 
it  and  used  it  for  a  barracks.  Some  years  after  hostilities 
ceased  it  was  finished  on  the  original  plan  and  was  opened 
for  the  reception  of  patients  who  were  too  poor  to  pay 
hospital  charges.  A  few  years  after  the  purchase  of  Black- 
well's  Island  a  building  was  erected  there  and  the  hospital 
on  Thomas  Street  was  transferred  to  it.  When  that  building 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  PUBLIC  CHARITIES      253 

subsequently  burned  the  present  structure  was  built  and 
given  the  name  of  City  Hospital.  Its  doors  have  been  open 
ever  since  for  all  who  wish  to  enter. 

Besides  these  there  are  a  number  of  other  public  charity 
institutions  throughout  the  five  boroughs.  Thousands  of 
poor  people  who  are  sick  and  suffering,  and  who  other- 
wise would  have  no  place  to  go,  are  received  and  cared 
for  by  these  institutions.  All  patients  who  enter  them  are 


FIG.  175.    City  Hospital 

supplied  with  new  or  freshly  laundered  clothes,  put  into 
comfortable  beds,  and  attended  by  competent  doctors  and 
nurses.  The  City  Hospital  has  a  spacious  solarium,  which 
was  built  by  a  generous  woman  of  New  York  City  in 
memory  of  her  daughter.  Its  sunny  windows  and  wide 
porches  are  an  unfailing  source  of  pleasure  and  are  filled 
all  day  long  with  women  who  are  recovering  from  severe 
illness.  By  reading  rooms  and  game  rooms  provision  is 
made  for  the  comfort  of  the  men  who  are  in  the  hospitals. 


254      GOVERNMENT   OF  THE  CITY   OF  NEW  YORK 

There  are  also  public  pavilions  which  shelter  from  the  sun 
and  rain,  and  yet  afford  the  blessing  of  the  invigorating 
air  of  the  island. 

The  Tuberculosis  Infirmary  and  the  Homes  for  the  Aged 
and  Infirm.  Not  long  ago  the  Metropolitan  Hospital,  a 
homeopathic  institution  on  Blackwell's  Island,  opened  an 
infirmary  for  patients  with  tuberculosis.  Two  buildings  near 
the  hospital  became  empty  and  they  were  reconstructed 
upon  the  latest  approved  plan  for  the  scientific  treatment 


FIG.  176.    A  Tuberculosis  Pavilion 

of  this  dread  disease.  Other  buildings  have  been  erected, 
and  many  patients  have  since  been  treated  there  with  very 
gratifying  results.  Besides  the  buildings  used  by  these 
patients,  there  are  those  which  are  set  apart  for  mothers 
and  their  young  babies,  and  others  which  are  devoted  to 
patients  who  are  afflicted  with  epilepsy  and  erysipelas. 

The  Homes  for  the  Aged  and  Infirm,  both  on  the  island 
and  under  the  department  in  Brooklyn,  were  formerly 
called  "  almsbouses,"  but  the  present  term  is  much  more 
fitting  and  humane.  The  able-bodied  have  been  excluded 
from  them,  leaving  only  inmates  who  are  old  and  infirm, 
or  patients  who  have  been  dismissed  from  the  hospitals,  but 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF   PUBLIC  CHARITIES      255 

who  are  not  strong  enough  to  return  to  their  homes.  Among 
the  most  humane  features  of  these  homes  are  the  separate 
apartments  provided  for  aged  husbands  and  wives,  who 
from  the  adversities  of  life  find  it  necessary  to  spend  their 
last  days  under  a  roof  of  charity.  Some  of  the  inmates  are 
blind,  and  teachers  have  been  provided  who  instruct  them 
in  the  self-supporting  trades,  such  as  basket  weaving,  chair 
caning,  brush  making,  and  kindred  occupations,  which  they 


FIG.  177.    Hay  Stacks  erected  on  Randall's  Island  by 
Feeble-Minded  Boys 

can  carry  on  notwithstanding  their  affliction.  The  depart- 
ment spends  over  fifty  thousand  dollars  annually  caring  for 
the  dependent  blind  of  the  city.  The  majority  of  these, 
however,  do  not  stay  in  institutions.  They  are  cared  for 
in  the  private  families  of  their  friends,  or  at  their  homes. 
They  are  paid  about  fifty  dollars  per  year  each,  toward 
their  support,  to  keep  them  out  of  charity  institutions. 

Randall's  Island  Institutions.  Randall's  Island  is  de- 
voted entirely  to  the  care  of  children  and  those  who  have 
weak  minds.  There  is  an  infants'  hospital  which  takes  all 
babies  under  two  years  of  age ;  a  children's  hospital  for 


256   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

children  of  sound  mind  who  are  older ;  an  industrial  school 
and  farm ;  a  school  for  the  feeble-minded ;  and  an  asylum 
for  the  idiotic.  The  school  for  the  feeble-minded  conducts 
classes  in  sewing,  tailoring,  shoemaking,  basket,  mat,  and 
rug  making,  cane  seating,  pyrography,  sloyd,  chip  carving, 
and  Venetian  iron  work.  There  is  also  a  gymnasium  in- 
structor for  both  boys  and  girls,  and  a  bandmaster  who  has 
made  wonderful  progress  in  teaching  music  to  the  feeble- 
minded boys.  Even  in  the  asylum  where  the  mentality  is 
lower  much  has  been  done  to  teach  the  inmates  how  to  be 
cleanly  and  to  feed  and  dress  themselves.  In  addition  to 
these  the  schools  maintain  flourishing  kindergartens. 

The  Brooklyn  and  Other  Borough  Institutions.  Kings 
County  Hospital  in  Brooklyn  was 'established  in  1845.  It 
has  a  capacity  for  several  hundred  beds  and,  in  addition 
to  the  usual  wards,  a  large  reception  pavilion  for  cases  of 
insanity.  The  other  hospitals  of  Kings  County  are  the  Cum- 
berland and  the  Bradford  Street,  and  the  Reception  Hos- 
pital at  Coney  Island,  a  temporary  establishment  which  is 
kept  open  only  during  the  summer  months.  There  is  also 
an  admirable  Home  for  the  Aged  and  Infirm  at  Flatbush. 

The  Cottage  Colony.  In  Richmond  borough,  near  New 
Dorp,  Staten  Island,  the  department  has  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres,  with  nine  buildings  upon  it.  It 
was  formerly  called  the  Richmond  County  Almshouse,  but 
it  is  now  known  as  the  New  York  City  Farm  Colony.  It  is 
one  of  the  best  farms  on  Staten  Island,  and  although  it  has 
more  than  two  hundred  inmates,  the  produce  of  the  farm 
makes  it  almost  self-supporting.  A  new  feature  which  has 
been  added  to  the  farm  colony  is  one  of  the  happiest  of 
the  many  charities  of  the  city.  It  is  the  establishment 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  PUBLIC  CHARITIES      257 

of  a  settlement  of  cottages  for  aged  couples  who  in  the 
declining  years  of  life  are  without  homes.  The  settlement 
is  called  the  Cottage  Colony,  and  forty  acres  adjoining  the 
farm  have  been  acquired  for  it.  The  buildings  upon  this  land 
include  a  number  of  cottages,  a  chapel,  and  an  administra- 
tion building.  Each  one  of  the  cottages  is  built  to  accommo- 
date about  thirty-five  inmates.  They  are  three  stories  high, 
surrounded  by  wide  porches,  and  each  one  is  provided  with 
a  good-sized  garden  patch,  which  is  cared  for  by  the  inmates. 


FIG.  178.    A  Cottage  of  the  Farm  Colony  on  Staten  Island 

To  supply  the  needs  of  these  various  charitable  insti- 
tutions, the  department  maintains  on  Blackwell's  Island  a 
large  bakery  establishment,  a  store  for  supplies,  a  black- 
smith shop,  a  shoe  factory,  butcher  shops,  and  gas  works. 
Within  the  last  few  years  a  wonderful  impetus  has  been 
given  to  all  philanthropic  work.  Besides  the  charity  insti- 
tutions which  are  maintained  by  the  municipality  there  are 
now  hundreds  of  private  organizations  which  look  after  the 
poor  of  the  city. 

*<£ 
UNIVERSITY 


258  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

Summary.  In  colonial  days  there  were  comparatively  few  poor 
persons  among  the  colonists.  At  first  they  were  cared  for  by  the 
churches,  but  in  1691  the  city  took  them  in  charge,  and  each  alderman 
made  a  list  of  the  poor  in  his  ward.  Bellevue  was  the  first  distinctive 
hospital  established  for  the  purpose  of  caring  for  the  sick  poor. 
Many  people  in  New  York  City  now  are  poor  and  need  to  be  helped. 
For  the  purpose  of  helping  such,  the  Department  of  Public  Charities 
was  organized.  At  its  head  is  a  commissioner,  who  has  charge  of  all 
the  charitable  institutions  under  the  control  of  the  city,  except  Belle- 
vue and  allied  hospitals.  He  is  responsible  for  the  management  of 
the  department  and  acts  as  general  overseer  of  the  poor.  Some  of 
the  institutions  under  the  department  are  the  City,  Metropolitan,  and 
Kings  County  hospitals ;  the  Homes  for  the  Aged  and  Infirm ;  the 
institutions  on  Randall's  Island  and  Hart's  Island ;  the  New  York 
City  Farm  Colony ;  and  the  Cottage  Colony.  Besides  these  the 
department  maintains  numerous  stores  and  shops  for  carrying  on  the 
work  in  connection  with  these  institutions.  In  addition  to  the  mu- 
nicipal charity  institutions  there  are  hundreds  which  are  maintained 
by  philanthropic  private  individuals  and  organizations. 


FIG.  179.  Blackwell's  Island 

CHAPTER  XXII 

\ 

THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  CORRECTION 

Why  a  Department  of  Correction  is  Necessary  in  the  City 
Government.  In  a  book  called  Looking  Backward  which 
was  written  some  years  ago,  an  ideal  city  of  the  year  2000 
was  described.  It  pictured  the  city  as  the  writer  believed 
it  might  be  at  that  date.  It  had  many  wonderful  improve- 
ments, but  one  of  the  most  notable  of  these  was  that  it 
contained  no  jails,  no  prisons,  nor  penitentiaries.  It  would 
be  an  ideal  city  if  the  need  for  all  such  institutions  could  be 
done  away  with,  if  the  city  could  exist  without  crime  or 
evil.  But  because  men  and  women  will  commit  crime  and 
do  evil,  cities  and  states  must  maintain  places  in  which  to 
put  them  to  prevent  them  from  doing  more  evil  deeds,  as 
well  as  to  punish  them  for  crimes  already  committed. 

Departments  of  Correction.  It  used  to  be  that  prisons 
and  other  penal  institutions  were  horrible  places.  In  those 
days  people  seemed  to  forget  the  brotherhood  of  man  and 
appeared  to  abhor  the  criminal  quite  as  much  as  they  did 
the  crime.  They  thought  the  more  inhumanly  and  cruelly 
they  treated  those  who  committed  crime,  the  sooner  crimes 

259 


260  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

would  cease.  The  world  is  learning  better  now.  It  is  begin- 
ning to  realize  that  men  often  commit  crime  through  force 
of  poverty,  or  of  other  sad  circumstances.  It  is  learning,  too, 
that  reformatory  and  preventive  measures  are  worth  a  thou- 
sand times  more  than  punishment.  It  has  been  the  realiza- 
tion of  this  truth  which  has  brought  about,  in  so  many  city 
governments,  the  departments  of  correction.  These  depart- 
ments are  for  the  purpose  of  looking  after  the  criminal  class 
of  the  people  and  the  places  where  they  are  confined. 

New  York  City's  Department  of  Correction.  The  cen- 
tral office  of  the  Department  of  Correction  in  New  York 
City  is  at  No.  148  East  Twentieth  Street.  The  commis- 
sioner of  correction  is  the  head  of  the  department.  He  is 
appointed  by  the  mayor  and  receives  a  salary  of  seven 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars  annually.  He  appoints  a 
deputy  commissioner  and,  subject  to  civil  service  regula- 
tions, all  other  officials  of  the  office.  In  addition  to  the 
general  business  of  the  department  he  has  the  supervision 
of  all  the  penal  institutions  of  the  city.  These  are  the  city 
prison,  which  is  in  the  first  district  and  is  popularly  called 
The  Tombs ;  the  six  other  city  prisons,  located  in  various 
parts  of  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx ;  the  penitentiary  and 
the  workhouse  on  Blackwell's  Island  ;  the  branch  workhouse 
and  the  reformatory  on  Hart's  Island  ;  the  branch  work- 
house on  Riker's  Island  ;  and  the  Kings  County  peniten- 
tiary in  Brooklyn. 

The  Powers  and  Duties  of  the  Commissioner  of  Correction. 
All  prisoners  who  are  sent  to  any  of  these  institutions  are 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  commissioner  of  correction. 
He  appoints  the  superintendents  and  wardens  and  is 
responsible  for  the  manner  in  which  the  institutions  are 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  CORRECTION 


26l 


conducted.  Each  superintendent  must  keep  an  exact  record 
of  all  prisoners  who  come  under  his  charge.  These  records 
are  sent  to  the  commissioner,  who  keeps  them  on  file  in  the 
central  office.  This  is  done  in  order  that  when  any  one  is 
arrested  for  drunkenness,  vagrancy,  or  disorderly  conduct, 
a  reference  to  these  records  will  show  at  once  whether 
the  prisoner  has  ever  been  arrested  before,  and  if  so,  upon 
what  charge.  This 
is  one  of  the  ways 
in  which  prisoners 
are  treated  more 
mercifully  now 
than  they  were 
formerly;  for  if 
these  records  show 
that  this  is  the 
prisoner's  first 
offense,  the  magis- 
trate sometimes 
suspends  sentence 
and  releases  him  on 


An  Old  School  Building  in  Manhattan 
facing  the  Elevated  Railway 


probation  of  good  FlG- 
behavior.  If  the 
prisoner  is  young,  he  is  not  sentenced  and  placed  with  hard- 
ened criminals,  where  he  could  not  but  learn  more  crime, 
but  he  is  sent  to  the  reform  school  on  Hart's  Island.  If 
the  prisoner  commits  an  offense  which  is  not  of  a  serious 
nature,  he  is  put  in  one  of  the  district  prisons  on  a  sentence 
of  a  few  days'  duration. 

The  severity  of  the  sentence  depends  upon  the  serious- 
ness of  the  offense.    If  the  prisoner  has  been  repeatedly 


262  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

drunken  and  disorderly,  he  may  be  sent  to  one  of  the  work- 
houses on  a  sentence  of  six  months.  Or  if  he  has  committed 
robbery  or  a  similar  crime,  he  is  sent  to  the  penitentiary  on 
Blackwell's  Island,  with  a  sentence  which  may  extend  from 
thirty  days  to  eleven  months,  and  may  also  include  a  fine. 
When  a  prisoner  is  sent  to  the  penitentiary  he  must  enter 
a  prisoner's  cell  and  serve  a  prisoner's  sentence.  But  even 
then  it  is  the  duty  of  the  commissioner  to  see  that  the  super- 
intendent and  wardens  treat  him  humanely. 

One  of  the  most  merciful  of  the  prison  reforms  is  that 
which  secured  the  passage  of  the  law  providing  that  pris- 
oners be  employed  during  their  term  of  sentence.  This  is 
far  more  merciful  than  we  are  apt  to  realize  when  we  first 
think  of  it.  There  is  no  more  cruel  form  of  punishment 
than  to  consign  a  man  to  a  prison  cell  and  enforce  him  day 
after  day,  week  after  week,  and  sometimes  even  year  after 
year,  to  sit  in  a  dark,  damp  cell,  in  absolute  silence  and 
idleness.  Such  was  the  condition  in  all  prisons  until  within 
comparatively  few  years,  and  many  a  poor  inmate  was 
driven  by  it  to  madness  or  suicide. 

The  Penitentiary  on  Blackwell's  Island.  The  prisoners 
sent  to  Blackwell's  Island  work  every  day  of  the  week 
except  Sunday,  and  while  doing  so  may  shorten  their 
sentences  by  good  conduct.  They  must  be  treated  kindly, 
but  if  they  will  not  work,  are  insubordinate,  or  try  to 
escape,  the  keepers  put  them  in  solitary  confinement,  where 
they  are  fed  on  bread  and  water.  If  a  prisoner  will  not 
obey  the  keeper  or  becomes  viciously  ugly,  and  if,  in  self- 
defense,  the  keeper  strikes  him,  the  keeper  must  report  so 
doing  to  the  commissioner  of  correction,  and  also  to  the 
prison  surgeon.  The  prisoner  is  put  in  solitary  confinement, 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  CORRECTION 


263 


but  the  prison  surgeon  visits  him  every  day  while  he  is 
there,  to  see  that  his  health  is  not  injured  by  it.  While 
prison  life  must  be  made  hard,  yet  the  prisoners  are  given 
sufficient  food  and  are  kept  warm  during  the  cold  weather. 


FIG.  181.    The  City  Prison,  Manhattan 
It  stands  on  part  of  the  site  of  Collect  Pond 

More  than  that,  reading  rooms  and  baths  are  provided  for 
them,  and  each  Sunday  religious  services  are  held  in  the 
chapels  of  the  prisons  and  workhouses.  When  a  prisoner 
who  has  served  a  sentence  of  eleven  months  leaves  the 


264  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


institution,  he  is  given  a  new  suit  of  clothing  and  an  over- 
coat of  the  value  of  eighteen  dollars.  A  woman  prisoner  is 
given  a  dress  and  coat  of  the  same  value.  In  addition, 
they  are  each  given  five  dollars.  The  state  provides  this 
money  for  them  in  order  that  they  may  have  something 

to  live  upon  until  they  can 
find  an  honest  means  of 
support. 

Prison  Regulations.  At 
Blackwell's  Island  peni- 
tentiary and  at  Kings 
County  penitentiary, 
where  city  prisoners  are 
also  sent,  both  men  and 
women  criminals  are  re- 
ceived. The  women  have 
separate  prisons  and  are 
in  charge  of  prison 
matrons.  Like  the  men 
prisoners,  they  are  em- 
ployed. There  is  a  large 
sewing  room,  and  those 
who  can  sew  are  engaged 
there.  Some  work  in  the 


FIG.  182.  Another  of  the  Old  School 
Buildings,  showing  Much  Less  Light 
and  Ventilation  than  the  New  Ones 


laundries,  others  scrub 
floors  or  help  in  the  kitchens,  and  some  are  sent  to  work 
in  other  penal  institutions.  They  also  make  the  clothing 
used  by  all  the  prisoners  and  inmates  of  the  workhouses. 
They  make  the  shrouds,  sometimes  as  many  as  two  thou- 
sand a  year,  in  which  are  buried  the  unknown  dead  of  the 
morgues.  The  men  prisoners  work  as  masons,  plasterers, 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF   CORRECTION  265 

and  carpenters  on  the  buildings  which  the  Department  of 
Correction  and  the  Department  of  Public  Charities  erect  or 
repair.  They  build  sea  walls  on  the  islands,  work  in  the 
shoe,  carpenter,  and  tailor  shops  which  are  conducted  in 
connection  with  the  places  of  confinement,  and  labor  on 
the  penal  farms.  Although  thousands  are  sentenced  every 
year,  yet  they  are  all  kept  busy. 

The  Reform  Schools.  But  it  is  the  treatment  of  child 
prisoners  which  shows  the  greatest  advance  along  humane 
lines.  Children  are  not  criminals,  although  they  may  be 
offenders  against  the  law.  The  recognition  of  this  truth 
has  brought  about  the  establishment  of  the  children's  courts 
and  reform  schools.  The  laws  of  New  York  State  provide 
that  boys  arrested  between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and  twenty- 
one  years  are  to  be  sent  to  reform  schools  rather  than  to 
prisons.  New  York  City  has  a  most  excellent  school  of  this 
kind  on  Hart's  Island.  The  building  contains  a  large  dor- 
mitory, a  schoolroom,  and  several  bath  rooms.  As  far  as 
possible  a  homelike  atmosphere  is  given  to  the  place,  and 
every  effort  is  made  to  awaken  a  sense  of  honor  among 
the  boys  who  are  sent  there.  The  Board  of  Education  has 
furnished  the  schoolroom  with  schoolroom  furniture,  books, 
maps,  and  pictures  of  an  educational  character.  Regular 
class  sessions  are  held,  and  when  not  in  the  schoolroom 
the  boys  are  employed  in  gardening  and  other  occupations. 
Every  influence  of  the  school  is  used  in  the  endeavor  to 
awaken  a  sense  of  honor  and  to  teach  those  who  come  there 
to  become  good  citizens.  Erring  girls  who  are  arrested  are 
not  assigned  to  institutions.  Upon  their  arrest  they  are 
taken  in  charge  by  the  matrons  of  the  city  prisons,  and 
placed  in  private  homes  or  in  religious  institutions. 


266      GOVERNMENT  OF   THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

Summary.  Places  of  confinement  are  necessary  in  order  that  crime 
may  be  punished  or  lessened,  and  that  criminals  may  be  prevented  from 
doing  further  harm  to  the  community.  The  Department  of  Correction 
is  one  of  the  fifteen  executive  departments  of  the  municipal  govern- 
ment. It  is  in  charge  of  a  commissioner  of  correction,  who  has  a 
general  supervision  of  all  work  of  the  department.  He  appoints  a 
deputy  commissioner  and,  subject  to  civil  service  regulations,  all 
other  appointees  of  the  office,  which  include  the  superintendents  of 
the  penal  institutions  of  the  city  and  the  wardens  of  the  prisons.  It 
is  his  duty  to  see  that  all  prisoners  are  treated  humanely  and  that 
children  who  are  placed  in  the  reform  schools  are  given  every  oppor- 
tunity to  become  good  citizens.  The  commissioner  has  the  super- 
vision of  the  city  prison  and  six  other  prisons  in  The  Bronx  and 
Manhattan ;  the  penitentiary  and  workhouse  on  Blackwell's  Island, 
the  branch  workhouse  on  Riker's  Island,  and  several  other  similar 
institutions.  The  prisoners  in  these  institutions  are  provided  with  the 
necessities  of  life,  attended  by  prison  surgeons  when  ill,  and  must  be 
employed  a  certain  length  of  time  each  day.  Children  are  sent  to  reform 
schools  rather  than  to  prisons,  where  they  attend  regular  school  classes 
and  are  taught  to  become  good  citizens. 


FIG.  183.  View  of  Fifth  Avenue 

CHAPTER  XXIII 

THE   LAW   DEPARTMENT 

Why  the  City  of  New  York  has  a  Law  Department.  To 

understand  why  it  is  necessary  for  the  City  of  New  York 
to  have  a  Law  Department  in  its  municipal  government,  it 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  city  itself  is  a  great  corpora- 
tion. It  must  also  be  remembered  that  just  as  an  individual 
may  own  property,  so  the  city  owns  it.  Large  tracts  of  land 
in  the  five  boroughs  belong  to  the  corporation  of  the  city. 
The  public  parks,  the  docks  and  bridges,  the  public  build- 
ings belong  to  it,  as  do  the  public  highways,  streets,  and 

267 


268   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

many  other  things.  The  ownership  of  all  this  property  has 
made  it  necessary  for  the  city  to  have  some  branch  of  the 
city  government  wherein  is  vested  the  power  to  protect  the 
rights  of  this  property.  It  is  necessary  to  have  some  one 
look  after  the  city's  interests  and  the  laws  which  affect  them. 
In  order  also  that  the  city,  as  a  corporation,  may  keep  within 
the  laws  of  the  state  and  nation,  and  that  its  own  laws  and 
regulations  may  not  be  infringed  upon,  the  Law  Depart- 
ment was  included  in  the  municipal  government  of  New 
York  City. 

What  constitutes  the  Law  Department.  The  Law  Depart- 
ment of  the  old  City  of  New  York,  that  is,  of  the  city  as  it 
existed  previous  to  the  consolidation  of  the  five  boroughs, 
was  established  more  than  fifty  years  ago.  By  that  time 
the  city  had  acquired  so  much  property,  and  with  its 
increased  population  had  become  involved  in  so  many 
legal  transactions,  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  appoint  a 
corporation  counsel,  that  is,  a  lawyer  whose  duty  it  was  to 
have  charge  of  those  things.  The  office  was  a  small  one  at 
first,  but  its  importance  increased  with  the  development  of 
the  city.  When  on  January  i,  1898,  the  city  of  Brooklyn 
and  Long  Island  City,  with  large  areas  adjacent  thereto, 
and  all  of  Staten  Island  were  annexed  to  the  old  City  of 
New  York,  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  Law  Department 
were  at  once  enlarged  so  as  to  cover  the  annexed  territory. 
The  department  then  became  one  of  the  largest,  if  not  the 
largest,  law  office  in  the  world,  in  the  extent,  variety,  and 
complexity  of  its  legal  business,  as  well  as  in  the  number 
of  people  comprising  the  office  force. 

The  Corporation  Counsel.  The  charter  details  with  much 
care  the  functions  of  the  Law  Department.  It  establishes 


THE  LAW  DEPARTMENT 


269 


the  main  office  of  the  department  in  the  borough  of  Man- 
hattan, with  a  branch  office  in  each  of  the  other  boroughs. 
It  designates  the  chief  lawyer,  or  the  head  of  the  depart- 
ment, as  the  corporation  counsel.  He  is  appointed  by  the 
mayor  and  is  one  of  the  three  officers  of  the  city  who  receives 
an  annual  salary  of  fif- 
teen thousand  dollars. 

It  would  require  too 
much  space  to  describe 
all  of  the  powers  and 
duties  of  the  corpora- 
tion counsel,  but  briefly 
outlined  they  include 
the  following.  He  can 
appoint,  and  at  pleas- 
ure remove,  as  many 
assistant  counsels  as 
are  necessary  to  dis- 
charge the  legal  duties 
of  the  department,  as 
well  as  all  clerks  and 
other  subordinates.  He 
is  not  only  held  respon-  FlG" l84'  The  Brooklyn  Terminal 

sible  for  his  own  work  and  that  of  his  assistants  but  for  all 
the  transactions  of  the  department. 

By  virtue  of  his  commission  the  corporation  counsel 
becomes  the  attorney  and  counsel  for  the  city,  for  the  mayor, 
for  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  and  for  each  and  every  officer, 
board,  and  department  of  the  municipality.  They  call  upon 
him  when  they  need  legal  advice  concerning  the  business  of 
their  offices.  If  the  mayor  or  any  other  of  the  city  officials 


270  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

becomes  involved  in  lawsuits  in  connection  with  their  public 
duties,  he  or  one  of  his  assistant  counsels  represents  them 
in  court.  Except  in  a  few  special  cases  no  officer,  board,  or 
department  of  the  city  can  have  any  other  attorney  or  coun- 
sel in  public  matters.  The  corporation  counsel  has  charge 
of  and  conducts  the  legal  proceedings  necessary  to  open 
and  widen  streets,  and  has  power  to  acquire  land  for  the 
city  by  condemnation  proceedings.  He  prepares  all  legal 
papers,  such  as  leases,  deeds,  contracts,  and  bonds,  and 
approves  the  forms  of  all  such  papers.  He  can  bring 
suits  in  any  court  to  maintain  or  protect  the  city's  rights, 
interests,  and  revenues. 

Bureau  of  Street  Openings.  The  work  of  the  Law  Depart- 
ment is  divided  among  four  bureaus.  The  first  of  these  is 
the  Bureau  of  Street  Openings.  When  it  is  recalled  that  the 
public  streets  of  New  York  City  cover  more  than  two  thou- 
sand miles,  and  that  each  year  new  streets  are  being  opened 
and  laid  out,  as  well  as  parks  and  reservations,  it  can  easily 
be  understood  why  a  Bureau  of  Street  Openings  is  a  neces- 
sary division  of  the  Law  Department.  It  is  such  an  impor- 
tant division,  in  fact,  that  it  is  in  charge  of  an  assistant 
corporation  counsel,  under  whom  is  a  large  force  of  lawyers. 
It  has  a  principal  office  in  the  building  occupied  by  the  Law 
Department  in  Manhattan,  and  there  is  also  a  branch  bureau, 
with  a  smaller  office  force,  in  the  borough  of  Brooklyn. 

The  principal  duty  of  this  bureau  is  to  acquire  title  to 
the  lands  which  the  city  needs  for  streets,  public  places, 
and  parks.  All  land  is,  of  course,  owned  by  some  one,  and 
if  it  becomes  necessary  to  use  some  of  it  for  a  street  or 
for  a  park,  it  can  only  be  taken  away  from  the  owner 
after  paying  him  its  value.  It  often  involves  an  extensive 





FIG.  185.    One  of  the  Business  Centers  of  Lower  Manhattan 
271 


272   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

litigation  to  determine  what  the  value  of  the  land  is,  who 
owns  it,  and  to  adjust  the  numerous  legal  complications 
arising  in  such  a  situation.  The  process  of  acquiring  the 
land  in  this  way  is  called  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  emi- 
nent domain  ;  that  is,  the  right  of  the  public  to  take  away 
from  a  private  person  his  property,  providing  it  pays  him 
the  value.  This  value  is  ordinarily  passed  upon  by  three 
commissioners  appointed  by  the  Supreme  Court.  The  com- 
missioners investigate  the  matter  and  report  to  the  Supreme 
Court  what  they  think  is  the  value  of  the  land ;  the  court 
passes  upon  their  report,  and  if  it  confirms  it,  the  city  pays 
the  property  holder  the  value  fixed  by  the  commissioners. 
In  the  year  1903  the  city  acquired  lands  for  streets  which, 
if  laid  out  in  a  straight  line,  would  extend  over  thirty-five 
miles,  and  which  cost  almost  nine  million  dollars.  It  is  easy 
to  see  how  all  this  would  require  much  litigation. 

Bureau  for  Recovery  of  Penalties.  Another  bureau  of 
the  Law  Department  is  called  the  Bureau  for  Recovery 
of  Penalties.  An  assistant  corporation  counsel  has  charge  of 
it,  with  a  large  number  of  clerks  and  employees  under  his 
supervision.  Through  this  bureau  the  city  protects  the  lives 
and  looks  after  the  comfort  of  its  citizens.  The  city  has  made 
certain  laws  prohibiting  the  erection  of  buildings  which  are 
in  any  way  unsafe  or  unsanitary,  and  it  has  also  many  ordi- 
nances, forbidding  one  citizen  from  infringing  on  the  rights 
of  another.  The  direct  object  of  the  Bureau  for  Recovery 
of  Penalties  is  to  collect  penalties  for  the  violation  of  any  of 
these  laws  or  municipal  ordinances.  It  brings  action  for  such 
recoveries  in  the  name  of  the  City  of  New  York.  These 
actions  are  brought  for  numerous  reasons,  —  sometimes  be- 
cause theaters,  hotels,  lodging  houses,  and  other  buildings 


THE    LAW  DEPARTMENT  273 

are  unsafe,  or  because  they  are  not  provided  with  proper 
protection  against  fire.  Suits  are  often  brought  against  indi- 
viduals who  obstruct  the  streets  with  displays  of  merchan- 
dise, or  who  put  illegal  projections  upon  their  houses,  such 
as  building  their  porches  too  far  over  the  sidewalk,  or  running 
the  eaves  of  their  houses  on  to  their  neighbor's  property,  or 
who  offend  in  any  way  against  municipal  regulations. 

Bureau  for  Collection  of  Arrears  of  Personal  Taxes. 
The  valuation  of  the  taxable  real  estate  of  the  City  of  New 
York  is  more  than  five  billion  dollars.  This  great  amount 
of  property  makes  plenty  of  work  for  the  Bureau  for  Collec- 
tion of  Arrears  of  Personal  Taxes  of  the  Law  Department. 
The  duty  of  this  bureau  is  to  collect  the  neglected  taxes 
upon  personal  property.  To  understand  this  it  must  be 
remembered  that  taxes  are  levied  against  two  distinct  kinds 
of  property,  real  property  and  personal  property.  In  col- 
lecting taxes  against  real  property,  or  land,  the  city  gen- 
erally looks  to  the  land  itself  for  the  collection  of  the  tax, 
and  can  sell  the  land  if  the  tax  is  not  paid.  But  in  order 
to  collect  taxes  against  personal  property,  it  looks  to  the 
individual  owning  the  property.  Such  persons  frequently 
fail  to  pay  their  taxes,  sometimes  Because  they  are  unable 
to  do  so,  sometimes  because  they  simply  desire  to  avoid 
paying  the  money  which  is  due,  and  sometimes  because 
they  do  not  know  that  they  have  been  taxed.  The  bureau 
is  in  charge  of  an  assistant  corporation  counsel  who  looks 
after  all  cases  of  delinquent  taxpayers.  The  assistant  corpo- 
ration counsel  must  give  a  large  bond  as  a  surety  that  he 
turns  over  to  the  city  treasury  all  the  taxes  which  are  col- 
lected through  him.  In  a  recent  year  notices  were  sent  to 
twenty-six  thousand  persons  who  failed  to  pay  their  taxes. 


2/4  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

Tenement  House  and  Building  Bureau  Branch  Office.  Be- 
sides the  three  bureaus  just  mentioned  there  are  a  number 
of  branch  offices  connected  with  the  Law  Department  which 
are  in  effect  bureaus,  although  not  legally  so  nor  called  by 
that  name.  For  instance,  there  is  a  branch  office  which  deals 
with  many  questions  growing  out  of  the  laws  relating  to 
tenement  houses.  These  laws  are  enacted  to  protect  people 
who  live  in  the  tenements  from  unsanitary  and  unsafe  con- 
ditions. It  has  happened  that  as  many  as  eight  hundred 
houses  in  one  year  have  been  condemned  as  unfit  for  human 
habitation,  and  over  two  thousand  violations  of  the  law  in 
regard  to  such  houses  have  been  detected  in  the  same  length 
of  time.  There  are  also  many  laws  relating  to  buildings, 
their  manner  of  construction,  and  the  duties  of  their  owners. 
This  bureau  has  a  superintendent  of  buildings,  whose  duty 
it  is  to  see  that  these  laws  are  obeyed.  Numerous  disputes 
arise  as  to  what  the  meaning  of  the  laws  is,  and  as  to 
whether  they  have  been  violated.  These  disputes  come  to 
the  corporation  counsel  for  settlement. 

Questions  which  come  before  the  Department  because  the 
City  is  a  Property  Owner.  While  the  corporation  counsel 
may  be  called  upon  to  <deal  with  almost  any  kind  of  legal 
complication,  a  large  proportion  of  these  complications 
arise  in  dealing  with  certain  well-defined  subjects.  For 
instance,  numerous  disputes  come  to  him  on  the  subject 
of  taxation  aside  from  that  of  the  delinquent  taxpayers. 
The  amount  of  property  in  New  York  City  is  enormous, 
and  a  very  large  sum  of  money  must  be  raised  each  year 
by  taxation  upon  it  to  meet  the  public  expenses.  Many 
suits  are  brought  into  the  courts  by  people  who  claim  to 
have  been  unjustly  taxed.  Again,  the  contracts  into  which 


THE   LAW  DEPARTMENT  275 

the  city  enters  are  a  fruitful  source  of  litigation  and  of 
requests  for  legal  advice.  The  city  enters  into  numerous 
contracts  with  private  individuals  for  constructing  public 
buildings,  such  as  schoolhouses,  fire-engine  houses,  court- 
houses, police  stations,  and  armories  for  the  militia,  for 
building  streets  and  sewers,  for  paving,  and  for  the  build- 
ing of  bridges  and  docks.  If  the  private  individuals  who 


FIG.  1 86.   Public  School  No.  134,  Brooklyn 

take  these  contracts  become  dissatisfied  with  them,  it  often 
follows  that  they  enter  into  suits  with  the  corporation. 
These  suits  are  tried  by  the  Law  Department.  Moreover 
the  city  is  frequently  sued  for  damages  claimed  to  have 
been  received  by  people  who  have  suffered  injuries  by  fall- 
ing, or  in  some  other  way,  because  it  is  claimed  that  the 
city  failed  to  keep  the  streets  in  a  safe  and  proper  condi- 
tion for  travel.  Hundreds  of  claims  of  this  character  are 
made  in  the  course  of  a  year ;  many  of  them  are  tried  in 
court,  and  sometimes  large  sums  of  money  are  recovered 


2/6   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

from  the  city.  Numerous  questions  of  law,  also,  involving 
the  meaning  and  application  of  the  constitution  of  the 
state,  and  other  laws,  continually  come  before  the  Law 
Department. 

Suits  involving  the  Civil  Service.    In  recent  years  a  large 
amount   of  litigation  arising   from   the  civil   service   laws 


FIG.  187.    Capitol  Building  at  Albany 

has  come  before  the  Law  Department.  Many  people  bring 
actions  against  the  city  because,  as  they  claim,  they  have 
been  illegally  removed  from  office  in  violation  of  the  civil 
service  laws.  They  also  claim  that  they  should  be  rein- 
stated and  should  receive  salaries  for  the  period  during 
which  they  were  illegally  kept  out  of  their  positions.  Cases 
of  this  sort  occur  frequently  among  the  subordinate  officers 


THE    LAW  DEPARTMENT  277 

of  the  city,  the  clerks,  and  the  school  teachers.  It  quite 
often  happens  that  patrolmen  are  dismissed  from  the  force 
on  the  ground  of  improper  conduct,  and  they  bring  claims 
that  they  were  unjustly  dismissed  and  should  be  reinstated. 
Similar  cases  occur  among  the  firemen  and  even  among 
the  great  body  of  ordinary  laborers  whose  appointment 
and  dismissal  are  regulated  by  special  laws.  It  is  the  duty 
of  the  corporation  counsel  to  have  these  cases  investigated. 

Many  other  cases  come  before  the  Law  Department,  aris- 
ing from  the  fact  that  the  corporation  is  a  property  owner. 
It  owns  steamboats,  tugs,  scows,  and  other  water  craft, 
which  make  it  a  litigant  in  the  admiralty  courts.  The  ad- 
miralty courts  deal  with  all  lawsuits  relating  to  matters 
occurring  on  the  water.  Moreover  the  city  is  involved  in 
expensive  litigation  relating  to  patents.  In  its  many  build- 
ings and  other  structures  it  uses  numerous  patented  articles, 
and  thus  may  be  brought  into  lawsuits  upon  this  subject. 

It  is  also  a  very  important  part  of  the  corporation 
counsel's  duties  to  watch  proposed  legislation  at  Albany 
affecting  the  city's  interests.  While  the  legislature  is  in 
session  at  least  one  assistant  corporation  counsel  remains 
at  the  capital,  and  his  entire  time  is  occupied  in  looking 
after  and  advocating  the  measures  introduced  into  the 
legislature  which  are  in  the  interest  of  the  city,  or  in 
opposing  those  which  are  against  it. 

Although  this  chapter  by  no  means  tells  all  that  is  done 
by  this  great  law  office,  —  the  Law  Department  of  the 
municipal  government,  —  yet  it  will  enable  the  pupil  to 
understand  why  the  municipal  government  needs  a  Law 
Department  and  why  it  is  such  an  important  part  of  the 
administration  of  the  city. 


278   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

Summary.  To  understand  the  chapter  we  have  just  studied,  we 
must  remember  that  the  municipality  is  a  great  business  corporation, 
with  the  power  to  own  or  dispose  of  property,  and  that  large  tracts  of 
land  and  many  other  things  in  the  city  belong  to  the  corporation. 
For  the  purpose  of  protecting  the  legal  interests  of  the  municipality 
the  Law  Department  maintains  one  of  the  largest  law  offices  in  the 
world.  The  corporation  counsel  is  at  its  head  and  has  full  power 
to  appoint  and  dismiss  all  assistants.  The  department  furnishes  all 
requisite  legal  advice  to  the  municipal  officers;  prepares  all  legal  doc- 
uments ;  brings  suits  in  the  name  of  the  city,  as  well  as  defends  those 
brought  against  it ;  and  protects  the  welfare  of  the  municipality  not 
only  by  enforcing  its  rights  in  the  city  and  on  its  adjacent  waters 
but  also  by  encouraging  such  state  legislation  as  is  favorable  to  the 
city's  interests,  and  by  preventing  the  passage  of  laws  tending  to  a 
contrary  result. 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  FINANCE 

Public  Finances  during  Colonial  Period.  Within  fifty  years 
after  the  Dutch  landed  on  Manhattan  Island  the  little  colony 
had  become  a  hamlet  of  such  commercial  aspirations  that  it 
appointed  a  chamberlain  to  take  charge  of  its  financial  affairs. 
He  received  all  public  moneys,  and  as  the  hamlet  grew  the 
importance  of  his  office  increased.  As  treasurer  of  the  com- 
munity he  had  charge  not  only  of  the  public  moneys  but 
gradually  of  all  business  connected  witSThe  "finances. 

Appointment  of  a  Comptroller.  Until  the  beginning  of 
the  nineteenth  century  the  chamberlain  continued  in  con- 
trol of  public  finances ;  but  about  that  time  the  man  who 
filled  the  office  had  difficulties  with  the  Board  of  Alder- 
men. No  one  knows  how  the  trouble  began,  but  the  board 
claimed  that  the  chamberlain  assumed  too  much  authority 
and  responsibility,  and  that  he  did  not  account  for  the 
moneys  as  fully  as  he  should.  To  curtail  his  powers  they 
appointed  a  comptroller.  This  first  comptroller  was  not 
invested  with  much  authority ;  the  Board  of  Aldermen 
appointed  him  as  a  kind  of  financial  agent  for  themselves, 
but  his  principal  duty  was  to  see  that  the  money  collected 
by  the  chamberlain  was  duly  accounted  for  and  paid  over. 
It  is  soberly  recorded  that  he  was  instructed  to  ukeep  a  set 
of  books  by  way  of  double  entry  "  and  directed  to  "  have  an 
office  and  keep  it  open  five  hours  each  day  except  Sunday." 

279 


FIG.  188.    Wall  Street:  Trinity  Church  at  its  Head 
280 


THE   DEPARTMENT  OF   FINANCE  281 

When  we  think  of  the  duties  of  the  present  comptroller  of 
the  city,  these  instructions  seem  amusing  by  comparison. 

Development  of  the  City's  Financial  System.  It  was 
almost  the  middle  of  the  century  before  the  Department 
of  Finance  was  established  by  statute.  Up  to  that  time 
the  chamberlain  remained  chief  officer  of  the  finances,  but 
in  1849  the  state  legislature  created  the  Department  of 
Finance,  at  the  head  of  which  was  placed  the  comptroller. 
The  department  was  then  given  a  general  oversight  of  the 
finances  of  all  the  other  administrative  offices  of  the  city. 
It  contained  three  bureaus,  one  of  which  was  for  the  col- 
lection of  taxes.  In  1857  another  enactment  provided  that 
the  comptroller,  as  well  as  the  mayor-  and  corporation 
counsel,  should  be  elected,  and  that  the  length  of  their 
terms  of  office  should  be  for  four,  two,  and  three  years 
respectively.  At  the  same  time  the  number  of  bureaus  in 
the  Department  of  Finance  was  increased  to  five. 

From  1869  to  1871  there  was  an  infamously  dishonest 
administration  of  the  city  government,  and  it  was  then 
determined  to  use  a  method  by  which  the  recurrence  of 
such  dishonesty  would  be  impossible.  To  accomplish  this 
the  comptroller  was  made  executive  officer  of  all  depart- 
ments, and  to  him  the  expense  accounts  of  each  were 
referred  for  inspection  before  payment.  This  greatly 
broadened  the  work  of  his  office,  and  it  effectually  accom- 
plished the  object  for  which  it  was  inaugurated. 

Other  changes  followed  as  the  city  grew.  In  1873,  when 
the  Reform  Charter  went  into  effect,  the  number  of 
bureaus  in  the  Department  of  Finance  was  increased  to 
eight,  and  the  office  of  comptroller  again  became  appoint- 
ive. This  charter  made  the  comptroller  the  financial  as  well 


282  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

as  the  executive  officer  of  the  city.  By  it  the  expense 
accounts  of  each  department  are  sent  to  him  for  inspection ; 
he  pays  the  bills  and  has  supervision  of  contracts  for 
supplies.  At  one  time  the  expenses  of  the  Police  Depart- 
ment and  of  the  Board  of  Education  were  not  under  his 
control,  but  they  came  under  it  eventually.  By  the  charter 
of  1 898  the  office  was  once  more  made  elective,  the  number 
of  bureaus  in  the  department  was  reduced  to  five,  and  the 
fine  system  which  is  now  in  operation  was  introduced. 

Why  the  Department  of  Finance  is  Important.  There  are 
two  reasons  why  the  Department  of  Finance  is  such  an 
important  part  of  the  municipal  corporation  :  first,  because 
of  the  importance  of  the  city  itself  as  the  leading  financial 
center  of  the  country;  and  second,  because  the  department 
supervises  the  accounts  and  pays  the  bills  of  all  the  other 
administrative  departments. 

The  Financial  Importance  of  the  City.  The  geographical 
position  of  New  York  City  makes  it  the  natural  gateway 
for  the  commerce  of  the  western  world.  It  is  only  one 
of  the  hundreds  of  cities  scattered  throughout  the  United 
States,  yet  into  its  harbor  alone  come  over  half  of  all  our 
imports.  Not  only  is  it  the  receiving  station  for  imports, 
but  it  is  also  the  distributing  point  for  exports.  In  1904 
six  hundred  and  fifty  million  dollars'  worth  of  exports  were 
sent  out  from  New  York  harbor.  The  business  interests  of 
the  city  are  almost  numberless.  Its  factories  make  every 
kind  of  commodity,  and  conduct  a  business  of  one  billion 
five  hundred  million  dollars  annually.  They  employ  over 
four  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  workmen,  whose 
wages  aggregate  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  million  dol- 
lars every  year.  The  mammoth  mercantile  establishments 


FIG.  189.   Sky  Scrapers  on  Park  Row 

The  city  post  office  is  at  the  left  of  the  picture 

283 


284  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

supply  the  requirements  of  more  than  half  the  merchants 
from  Maine  to  California.  In  the  commercial  sky  scrapers 
of  lower  Manhattan  a  majority  of  the  largest  moneyed  men 
of  the  world  have  their  business  headquarters.  In  one  of 
them,  on  Park  Row,  there  are  more  than  six  hundred  offices, 
the  occupants  of  which  represent  a  capital  of  over  two 
billion  dollars. 

Institutions  which  make  the  City  Great.  There  are  sev- 
eral business  organizations  in  the  city  whose  operations 
are  world-wide  in  their  influence,  and  as  they  are  local  in- 
stitutions they  are  included  in  this  chapter.  The  most 
important  is  the  Stock  Exchange. 

The  Stock  Exchange.  It  was  organized  one  day  in  1792, 
when  twenty-five  brokers  of  the  town  met  under  the  shade 
of  a  large  tree  which  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present 
No.  60  Wall  Street,  and  drew  up  an  agreement  regulating 
the  charge  of  commission  and  pledging  themselves  to  give 
preference  to  each  other  in  their  negotiations.  Since  then 
it  has  been  a  growing  power,  until  now  it  is  the  business 
center  of  the  commerce  of  the  nation.  It  is  a  market  for 
the  purchase  and  sale  of  public  stock,  bonds,  and  similar 
securities.  The  general  list  of  stocks  and  bonds  dealt  in 
is  called  regularly,  but  there  is  also  a  free  list  of  stocks 
and  other  securities,  called  at  the  request  of  the  members. 
The  scene  on  the  floor  is  often  one  of  intense  excitement. 
The  most  prominent  of  the  stocks,  bonds,  or  other  securi- 
ties, which  have  been  listed  by  the  Exchange,  are  repre- 
sented by  name  upon  iron  standards  numbered  and  placed 
at  equal  distances  apart  about  the  floor.  The  various  mem- 
bers gather  around  the  standards  bearing  the  names  of  the 
securities  in  which  they  are  interested.  They  buy  and  sell 


FIG.  190.    Broad  Street,  showing  the  Stock  Exchange 
285 


286     GOVERNMENT   OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

through  brokers,  who  stand  near  the  standards  bearing  the 
names  of  the  corporations  they  represent,  and  who  call 
out  the  bids,  sale,  or  purchase.  The  back  of  the  room  is 
filled  with  telephone  booths  for  the  use  of  members;  and 
on  both  sides  there  are  numerous  telegraph  instruments  at 
which  operators  are  sending  and  receiving  reports  to  and 
from  all  sections  of  the  country.  One  of  the  greatest  feats 
of  electricity  is  a  little  instrument  which  is  used  in  connec- 
tion with  this  and  other  exchanges.  By  a  most  ingenious 
arrangement  it  registers,  on  what  is  called  the  "  tape,"  the 
stock  prices  as  they  are  made  on  the  floor  of  the  exchanges, 
and  from  all  the  markets  of  the  world.  All  the  great  busi- 
ness houses  have  these  "  tickers,"  as  they  are  called. 

A  seat  on  the  Stock  Exchange  is  eagerly  sought  by 
wealthy  brokers,  although  the  price  is  sometimes  eighty 
thousand  dollars  or  more.  If  a  member  becomes  insolvent, 
his  seat  is  sold  for  the  benefit  of  his  creditors.  In  case  of 
his  death  it  is  sold  for  his  heirs,  and  in  addition  to  that, 
a  gratuity  fund  is  maintained  by  the  Exchange,  which  pays 
the  heirs  ten  thousand  dollars.  There  are  usually  about 
fifteen  hundred  members.  The  building  of  the  Exchange 
is  a  magnificent  ten-story  structure  of  marble  on  Broad 
Street ;  its  facade  of  Corinthian  columns  is  among  the 
finest  pieces  of  architecture  in  the  city. 

The  Consolidated  Exchange  began  operations  as  an  off- 
shoot of  the  Stock  Exchange  in  1875.  It  is  a  consolidation 
of  various  boards  dealing  in  oil,  mining,  and  general  securi- 
ties, and  does  a  large  business. 

The  Chamber  of  Commerce  is  even  older  than  the  Stock 
Exchange.  As  early  as  1768,  during  the  English  adminis- 
tration, a  few  merchants  gathered  in  Fraunce's  Tavern  and 


288   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

formed  an  association  which  afterwards  grew  into  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce.  Its  objects  are  to  promote  and 
encourage  commerce,  to  support  industry,  and  to  procure 
such  laws  and  regulations  as  may  be  found  necessary  for 
the  benefit  of  trade.  It  also  takes  an  active  interest  in 
matters  concerning  the  city.  One  of  its  features  is  a  Court 
.of  Arbitration,  by  which  differences  between  business  men 
are  adjusted.  Its  meetings  are  held  the  first  Tuesday  of 
each  month  in  its  princely  building  on  Liberty  Street. 
Portraits  of  many  of  the  old  merchants  and  valuable  com- 
mercial statistics  are  kept  here. 

The  Produce  Exchange  is  also  an  organization  of  mer- 
chants more  than  a  century  old.  Its  membership  is  limited 
to  three  thousand.  It  is  a  place  for  the  wholesale  buying 
and  selling  of  agricultural  products.  The  room  in  which  the 
members  meet  is  so  large  it  could  easily  accommodate  all  of 
the  membership.  Through  the  center  of  it  are  long  tables 
containing  samples  of  the  produce  dealt  in.  In  the  north- 
east corner  of  the  room  is  the  oval  "  wheat  pit/'  where  grain 
is  bought  and  sold.  Long  movable  blackboards  are  hang- 
ing on  the  wall  near  it.  While  the  Exchange  is  open  a  man 
stands  before  these  boards  and  writes  upon  them  the  prices 
of  the  produce  as  they  are  made  on  the  floor,  or  as  they 
are  received  by  telegraph  from  other  centers.  The  business 
transacted  by  the  Exchange  exceeds  a  billion  dollars  a  year. 
The  building  at  the  foot  of  Broadway,  near  Bowling  Green, 
is  one  of  New  York's  most  notable  business  structures. 

The  Maritime  Exchange  is  an  association  of  business 
men  which,  according  to  its  constitution,  is  to  "  acquire, 
preserve, '  and  disseminate  valuable  business  information 
and  do  such  other  proper  and  needful  acts  as  will  tend  to 


THE   DEPARTMENT   OF  FINANCE  289 

promote  the  maritime  interest  of  the  port  of  New  York." 
Its  membership  is  limited  to  twelve  hundred,  and  it  occu- 
pies a  handsome  six-story  building.  Reliable  information 
of  the  maritime  trade  is  kept  bulletined,  as  well  as  a  record 
of  the  movements  of  vessels,  copies  of  manifests  and  clear- 
ances, and  other  matters  of  interest  to  the  members.  It 
makes  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  maritime  trade  of 
New  York  harbor.  It  has  an  interesting  museum,  and  also 
a  reading  room  where  domestic  and  foreign  newspapers, 
other  periodicals,  and  books  of  reference  relating  to  mari- 
time affairs  are  on  file. 

The  New  York  Clearing  House  is  an  association  of  over 
sixty  New  York  banks,  together  with  the  Subtreasury 
of  the  United  States,  and  is  the  medium  through  which 
these  banks  exchange  the  amount  of  checks  and  bills  that 
each  holds  against  all  the  others.  This  exchange  repre- 
sents millions  of  dollars,  yet  the  system  is  simple.  Instead 
of  each  bank  sending  individuals  to  collect  its  various 
accounts  with  all  the  other  banks  in  the  Clearing  House 
Association,  it  sends  a  representative  each  morning  at 
ten  o'clock  to  the  Clearing  House,  where  the  representa- 
tives of  all  the  banks  make  their  exchanges  in  the  manner 
described  in  the  following  paragraph. 

The  chamber  in  the  Clearing  House  where  the  exchanges 
are  made  is  a  large,  handsome  room  on  the  top  floor  of  the 
building,  and  in  it  each  bank  in  the  association  has  a  desk. 
The  clerks  from  the  various  banks  having  a  membership 
come  into  the  chamber  on  the  stroke  of  ten  every  week-day 
morning,  carrying  valises  which  contain  tabulated  pack- 
ages of  all  the  checks  and  bills  on  the  banks  they  repre- 
sent, drawn  during  the  day  before  by  all  the  other  banks 


290      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


FIG.  192.    New  York  Clearing  House 


in  the  city  holding  a 
membership  in  the  or- 
ganization. They  take 
seats  at  their  individual 
desks  and,  opening 
their  valises,  take  out 
the  packages  therein 
and  exchange  them 
among  the  representa- 
tives of  the  other 
banks  for  those  which 
belong  to  the  banks 
they  represent.  Each 
clerk  notes  upon  a  long 
slip  of  paper  lying  on 
his  desk  the  amount  of 
the  drafts  and  checks 
he  has  exchanged. 
When  every  clerk  has 
noted  the  drafts  and 
checks  he  has  ex- 
changed and  the 
amounts  they  repre- 
sent, all  these  slips  are 
turned  over  to  the  man- 
ager of  the  Clearing 
House,  who  examines 
them  carefully  and 
strikes  a  balance,  ascer- 
taining the  sum  each 
bank  must  pay  in,  or 


THE   DEPARTMENT  OF   FINANCE  291 

which  must  be  paid  to  it,  to  clear  its  account.  Between  the 
hours  of  half  past  twelve  and  half  past  one  in  the  afternoon 
the  debtor  banks  pay  to  the  manager  at  the  Clearing  House 
the  balances  against  them,  either  in  actual  coin,  legal-tender 
notes,  or  in  certificates  agreed  upon  by  the  members.  At 
half  past  one  the  creditor  banks  send  their  clerks  and 


FIG.  193.    The  United  States  Treasury  at  Washington 
Where  the  business  connected  with  the  finances  of  the  government  is  transacted 

receive  from  the  manager  the  respective  balances  due  to 
them.  Thus  millions  of  dollars  often  pass  through  the  Clear- 
ing House  in  one  day. 

The  Clearing  House  has  been  in  existence  fifty  years, 
and  the  business  it  has  transacted  runs  up  into  trillions 
of  dollars.  The  building  it  occupies  is  a  marble  structure 
in  the  Italian  Renaissance  style,  with  graceful  Corinthian 
pillars  adorning  the  front,  and  surmounting  them  is  an 
entablature  of  the  arms  of  the  city. 

Department  of  Finance.  Aside  from  these  wonderful 
money-making  enterprises  and  corporations  of  business 
firms,  the  municipal  government  itself  spends  unparalleled 
sums.  You  will  recall  that  the  Annual  Budget  is  over  one 


2Q2  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

hundred  million  dollars.  These  are  the  things  which  make 
the  Department  of  Finance  such  an  important  part  of  the 
municipal  government.  The  charter  of  1901  declares  that 
the  "  Department  of  Finance  shall  have  control  of  all 
the  fiscal  concerns  of  the  corporation,"  meaning  that  the 
department  shall  control  the  money  belonging  to  the  city. 
It  also  prescribes  the  form  in  which  the  money  is  to  be 
kept,  and  authorizes  the  department  to  examine  and,  if 
necessary,  to  revise  all  the  accounts  of  the  other  depart- 
ments ;  it  also  provides  that  nearly  all  the  payments  which 
the  city  makes  must  be  on  vouchers  filed  in  the  comp- 
troller's office  by  means  of  warrants  drawn  on  the  cham- 
berlain by  the  comptroller  and  countersigned  by  the  mayor. 
These  vouchers  are  legal  papers  which  show  that  the 
accounts  are  true  ;  the  warrants  are  other  legal  papers 
authorizing  the  chamberlain  to  pay  the  money.  This  is 
one  of  the  ways  in  which  the  city's  money  is  protected 
from  illegal  use.  The  department  collects  certain  state 
taxes  and  receives  the  money  from  all  city  taxes.  It  pro- 
vides for  the  state  militia  and  pays  the  state  officers,  such 
as  judges  of  the  state  courts,  who  perform  their  duties 
within  the  city  limits.  It  either  pays  the  salaries  of  city 
employees  or  regulates  how  they  shall  be  paid. 

The  Comptroller.  The  head  of  the  department,  the 
comptroller,  is  in  many  respects  the  most  important  official 
of  the  city.  He  is  elected  by  the  electors  of  the  entire 
city  at  a  salary  of  fifteen  thousand  dollars  annually.  He 
appoints  almost  all  his  subordinates  except  the  chamber- 
lain, collects  a  large  share  of  the  city's  funds  through  the 
Bureau  for  the  Collection  of  Assessments  and  Arrears,  and 
makes  all  disbursements.  He  designates  the  form  of  all 


THE   DEPARTMENT  OF  FINANCE  293 

bonds  and  stocks  which  are  issued  under  the  common  seal 
of  the  city,  and,  with  the  mayor,  signs  them.  He  has  the 
power  to  sell  or  lease,  after  public  advertisement,  certain 
city  property,  such  as  unused  schoolhouses  and  other  pub- 
lic buildings.  He  settles  and  adjusts  all  claims  wherein 
the  city  is  either  debtor  or  creditor.  He  publishes  yearly  a 
detailed  statement  of  the  city's  financial  condition.  He  is 
the  dispensing  agent  of  the  money  which  the  city  expends 
annually  on  its  many  charities.  He  is  also  a  member  of  all 
the  principal  executive  boards  in  the  city. 

Sinking  Fund.  One  of  the  most  important  duties  of 
the  comptroller  is  in  connection  with  the  sinking  fund. 
Dr.  James  H.  Canfield,  the  able  librarian  of  the  Columbia 
Library,  gives  the  following  terse  definition  of  a  sinking  fund. 
"  Whenever  the  state  (or  city)  incurs  a  debt  a  tax  is 
levied  which  will  pay  the  interest  each  year,  and  also  raise 
each  year  an  amount  which,  when  laid  by,  will  equal  the 
principal  when  the  latter  comes  due." 

The  sinking  fund  of  New  York  City  was  started  when 
the  city,  under  the  English  administration,  went  into  debt 
to  build  the  city  hall  in  1700.  Since  then  it  has  always 
had  a  sinking  fund  with  several  subdivisions.  It  is  now  a 
vast  sum  of  money  which  the  corporation  has  in  certain 
stocks,  bonds,  and  coin,  and  to  which  it  is  adding  all  the 
time  from  the  interest  on  other  stocks  and  bonds,  and  by 
rents  from  its  many  franchises.  Moneys  received  from 
franchises,  from  interest  on  sinking  fund  investments, 
Croton  water  rents,  and  other  miscellaneous  revenues  are 
paid  into  the  sinking  fund  of  New  York  City.  From  the 
sinking  fund  the  city  redeems,  by  degrees,  the  principal 
of  its  enormous  public  debt.  At  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year 


294  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

in  1904  the  gross  funded  debt  of  the  city  was  five  hun- 
dred and  fifty-eight  millions,  two  hundred  and  sixty-five 
thousand,  five  hundred  and  seventeen  dollars.  But  as  great 
as  this  amount  is,  it  simply  indicates  the  improvements 
which  have  been  made  and  are  being  made  in  the  city; 
and  in  the  interest  accruing  to  it,  it  holds  its  ultimate 
liquidation.  The  Commissioners  of  the  Sinking  Fund,  who 
have  charge  of  it,  are  the  comptroller,  the  mayor,  the 
chamberlain,  the  president  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  and 
the  chairman  of  its  finance  committee. 

Bureaus  of  the  Finance  Department.  The  work  of  the 
department  is  divided  among  five  bureaus.  The  first,  under 
the  Collector  of  City  Revenue  and  Superintendent  of  Mar- 
kets, supervises  all  matters  concerning  the  collection  of  the 
money  which  comes  to  the  city  from  rents,  from  the  interest 
on  its  bonds  and  mortgages,  and  from  the  sale  of  property. 
The  second  bureau,  under  the  Receiver  of  Taxes,  receives  all 
money  collected  from  taxes.  The  third  bureau,  under  the 
Collector  of  Assessments  and  Arrears,  collects  the  assess- 
ments, taxes,  and  water  rents  which  are  in  arrears.  The  Re- 
ceiver of  Assessments  and  Arrears  and  the  Receiver  of  Taxes 
each  give  a  bond  of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  and  the 
deputies  whom  they  appoint  are  also  bonded  for  faithful  per- 
formance of  duty.  The  fourth  bureau,  under  the  Auditors  of 
Accounts,  audits  the  accounts  of  all  the  departments.  The 
fifth  bureau  receives  and  pays  out  all  moneys  for  the  city. 

The  Chamberlain.  The  chamberlain  is  the  chief  officer 
of  the  fifth  bureau.  He  ranks  next  to  the  comptroller  in 
influence  and  power.  He  is  appointed  by  the  mayor  at  a 
salary  of  twelve  thousand  dollars,  with  four  securities.  He 
receives  all  money  paid  into  the  city  treasury.  He  appoints 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  FINANCE 


295 


the  deputy  chamber- 
lain and  all  the  neces- 
sary assistants.  With 
the  mayor  and  comp- 
troller he  selects  the 
banks  in  which  the 
city  money  is  depos- 
ited. They  cannot 
deposit  in  any  one 
bank  a  sum  of  money 
greater  than  half  the 
amount  of  the  capital 
stock  owned  by  the 
bank.  The  chamber- 
lain makes  a  report 
weekly  to  the  mayor 
and  comptroller  re- 
garding the  money  in 
the  city  treasury.  On 
the  first  Tuesday  of 
each  month  he  pre- 
sents his  bank  book 
to  the  comptroller  for 
inspection. 

Bureau  Divisions. 
To  facilitate  the 
work  of  the  depart- 
ment the  bureaus  are 
separated  into  many 
divisions ;  each  one 
is  an  important  part 


FIG.  194.    Statue  of  Nathan  Hale  in 
City  Hall  Park 


296   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

of  the  whole.  The  bookkeeping  division,  to  which  much  of 
the  success  of  the  department  is  due,  keeps  its  enormous 
and  intricate  set  of  books  so  accurately  that  it  is  possible  for 
the  comptroller  to  know  on  any  day  the  exact  financial  con- 
dition of  each  bureau.  There  is  a  stock  and  bond  division, 
in  which  all  the  business  in  connection  with  the  city  secu- 
rities is  transacted  ;  a  law  and  adjustment  division,  in  the 
auditing  bureaus ;  an  investigation  division ;  and  one  of 
engineering.  There  is  a  division  of  municipal  accounts 
and  statistics,  another  for  assessment  of  water  rents,  the 
paymaster's  division,  and  others.  The  Department  of  Fi- 
nance is  one  of  the  largest  business  agencies  in  the  world. 

Summary.  From  the  time  New  Amsterdam  received  municipal 
privileges,  in  1653,  until  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the 
chamberlain  controlled  the  finances  of  the  city.  The  first  comptroller 
was  then  appointed.  Public  finances  were  in  his  charge  until  1849, 
when  the  Department  of  Finance  was  established.  The  comptroller 
was  placed  at  its  head.  The  department  is  empowered  with  a  general 
oversight  of  the  finances  of  all  the  other  administrative  departments 
of  the  city.  The  department  is  divided  into  five  bureaus  and  many 
subdivisions.  The  chamberlain  ranks  next  the  comptroller  in  power 
and  influence.  A  brief  description  is  given  of  certain  financial  insti- 
tutions which  help  make  the  greatness  of  the  city. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  TAXES  AND  ASSESSMENTS 

What  is  Taxation  ?  In  large  communities  there  are  tracts 
of  land  and  fine  buildings  which  do  not  belong  to  any 
one  individual.  Parks,  schoolhouses,  municipal  buildings, 
libraries,  certain  franchises,  engines  which  dash  through 
the  streets  when  a  building  is  burning,  hospitals  which 
open  their  doors  to  the  needy,  streets  which  are  paved  and 
kept  in  repair,  — these  do  not  belong  to  private  individuals  ; 
they  are  city  property.  In  a  city  there  are  many  things 
also  which  are  done  for  the  citizens  as  a  whole.  Salaries  of 
school-teachers,  public  officials,  patrolmen,  and  firemen  are 
not  paid  by  any  one  individual  or  society.  These  people  are 
employees  of  the  municipal  government,  and  money  paid  to 
them  comes  from  the  public  treasury. 

The  city  is  a  public  corporation  and  as  such  has  two 
sides.  First,  it  is  a  governmental  subdivision  of  the  state. 
In  that  sense  its  citizens  look  to  its  local  administration  for 
-means  to  protect  life  and  property.  Second,  it  is  a  business 
corporation,  and  as  such  owns  stocks,  although  all  of  them 
are  not  the  kind  which  are  bought  and  sold  on  Exchange. 
Its  wide,  well-kept  streets,  its  beautiful  parks,  its  handsome 
public  buildings,  its  docks  and  ferries,  —  all  of  these,  and 
many  other  things,  are  a  part  of  the  stocks  which  make  the 
city  corporation  valuable.  Every  citizen  is  a  shareholder  in 
these  stocks,  and  in  other  kinds  also  owned  by  the  city. 
As  a  business  corporation  the  city  is  engaged  in  many 

297 


298     GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

enterprises.  It  constructs  bridges  and  waterworks,  paves 
streets,  cleans  them,  and  puts  in  sewers ;  it  invests  mil- 
lions of  dollars  in  its  public  buildings,  drives,  and  parks. 
These  are  more  of  the  city's  stocks,  and  the  citizen  is  a 
shareholder  in  all  these  vast  enterprises,  as  well  as  in  the 
property  which  the  city  owns.  He  is  interested  in  them 
just  as  a  stockholder  is  interested  in  a  private  company  in 
which  he  has  shares.  Its  losses  are  an  injury  to  him,  its 
gains  a  benefit.  As  a  shareholder  he  helps  to  maintain 
these  institutions  and  to  support  these  enterprises.  "  Share- 
holder "  in  this  case  is  the  other  word  for  "  taxpayer,"  as  the 
money  which  the  citizen  puts  into  these  things  is  the  city 
tax.  You  can  thus  see  that  taxes  are  that  part  of  a  man's 
property  which  he  pays  for  public  purposes. 

Why  we  are  Taxed.  If  you  consider,  you  will  see  why 
every  citizen  should  be  a  shareholder,  or  taxpayer,  in  the 
corporation.  How  otherwise  could  the  public  expenses  be 
met  or  city  enterprises  be  carried  on  ?  The  strength  of 
every  government  depends  upon  its  power  of  taxation. 
The  weakest  time  in  our  history  as  a  nation,  and  that  which 
was  fraught  with  greatest  danger  to  it  as  a  republic,  was 
just  after  the  Revolution,  when  the  Continental  Congress 
had  neither  the  authority  nor  the  power  to  raise  money  in 
this  way.  It  is  every  citizen's  duty  to  help  pay  the  city 
expenses  and  to  help  carry  on  the  city's  undertakings. 
When  a  city  is  well  governed,  money  so  paid  into  its 
treasury  more  than  returns  an  equivalent  in  the  safety, 
comfort,  advantages,  and  happiness  accruing  to  its  citizens. 
Under  our  admirable  form  of  government  the  people  who 
pay  taxes  decide  what  they  are  to  be,  and  usually  the  rate 
of  taxation  is  fair  and  equitable.  The  rich  man  pays  largely, 


DEPARTMENT  OF  TAXES.  AND  ASSESSMENTS     299 

as  he  should  do,  and  the  man  with  a  small  amount  of 
property  pays  in  proportion.  When  people  do  not  own 
their  own  homes,  but  rent  them,  they  pay  taxes  in  their 
rent,  for  the  owners  of  the  houses  make  the  rent  sufficiently 
high  to  cover  the  tax. 

Taxable  Property  of  the  City.  When  the  city  was  enlarged 
to  include  the  five  boroughs  it  broadened  its  area  to  three 
hundred  and  twenty-seven  square  miles,  uniting  ninety  cities, 
towns,  and  hamlets.  So  much  territory  was  included  that, 
were  it  possible  to  transport  them,  all  the  European  capitals 
combined  might  be  placed  within  the  present  limits  of  New 
York  City.  It  has  over  twelve  hundred  miles  of  street  rail- 
ways, while  its  streets  themselves  cover  over  two  thousand 
miles.  By  the  consolidation  the  cost  of  the  local  govern- 
ment was  increased  fifteen  millions  annually.  The  Expense 
Budget  became  larger  than  that  of  either  Paris  or  London, 
and  the  yearly  expenditures  since  then  have  been  as  great 
as  the  annual  expenses  of  the  six  largest  states  of  the  Union 
combined.  The  city  pays  a  state  tax  of  over  seven  million 
dollars  yearly.  The  assessed  valuation  of  its  taxable  real 
estate  is  over  five  billion  dollars,  while  there  is  over  one 
billion  and  thirty-five  million  dollars'  worth  of  other  real 
estate  which  is  exempt  from  taxation. 

Corporation  Property.  In  addition  to  the  taxable  property 
the  city  is  unusually  fortunate  in  the  amount  of  corporate 
property  which  it  owns.  Even  in  Dutch  colonial  days  pro- 
vision was  made  for  municipal  ownership.  "  The  Commons  " 
covered  several  acres  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  present 
City  Hall  Park.  From  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the 
first  ferry  on  the  East  River  the  ferries  have  been  a  city 
franchise.  The  Montgomerie  Charter  enriched  the  little 


300  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


hamlet  and  laid  the  foundation  for  much  of  its  future 
wealth.  By  its  provisions  the  city  received  its  municipal 
buildings,  such  as  the  city  hall,  courthouses  and  jails,  fire 
and  market  houses,  magazines  and  powder  houses ;  "  the 
great  dock  with  the  new  crane  and  wharf,  and  the  common 

sewer  leading  through  the 
great  dock " ;  "the  ferries 
on  both  sides  of  East 
River  and  all  other  ferries 
now  and  hereafter  to  be 
erected."  With  these  it 
received  immense  tracts 
of  land  both  near  and 
under  water.  These  har- 
bor land  grants,  ferriages, 
and  dock  privileges  have 
always  been  prolific 
sources  of  revenue.  Since 
park  improvements  began 
about  a  century  ago,  the 
city  has  laid  out  more  than 
seven  thousand  acres  of 
parks,  parkways,  and 
drives,  which  are  now 
valued  at  three  hundred  million  dollars. 

Much  of  the  princely  gift  of  land  which  came  with  the 
Montgomerie  Charter,  together  with  that  which  the  city 
received  in  1828  (the  water  front  on  the  North  River  ex- 
tending to  Spuyten  Duyvil),  was  afterwards  granted  away 
in  franchises  and  leases.  For  many  years  the  city  has 
been  taking  these  lands  back  by  condemnation  proceedings, 


FIG.  195.    Chamber  of  Commerce 


DEPARTMENT  OF  TAXES  AND  ASSESSMENTS     301 

as  we  learned  in  a  previous  chapter ;  but  to  do  this  it 
has  had  to  pay,  and  is  still  paying,  large  sums  of  money. 
This  is  unfortunate,  and  is  a  striking  example  of  the  folly  a 
city  commits  when  it  grants  franchises  without  a  full  return. 

Early  Taxation.  Questions  of  how  much  the  taxes  shall 
be  and  who  shall  assess  them  have  always  been  vital  ones 
to  the  American  people.  These  questions  caused  constant 
friction  between  the  Dutch  colonists  and  the  direcktors- 
general  of  the  West  India  Company;  they  were  the  para- 
mount grievance  under  the  English  governors,  and  were  the 
compelling  cause  of  the  Revolution.  After  the  close  of  the 
war,  when  the  city  had  become  the  leading  commercial  cen- 
ter of  the  young  republic,  the  management  of  taxation  was 
an  important  part  of  the  city  government.  As  in  colonial 
days,  collectors  of  taxes  were  appointed  from  each  ward. 
They  had  power  to  assess  property  as  well  as  to  collect  taxes. 

By  the  revision  of  the  laws  in  1813  the  collectors  were 
elected,  but  they  made  their  returns  from  the  collections  to 
the  city  chamberlain,  as  they  had  been  doing.  This  system 
prevailed  until,  by  the  law  of  1843,  the  collectors  were  dis- 
continued and  an  office  for  the  collection  of  taxes  was  estab- 
lished as  a  branch  of  the  finance  department.  A  Receiver 
of  Taxes  was  appointed,  who  had  charge  of  the  office,  with 
a  deputy  and  "a  suitable  number  of  clerks."  Although 
the  law  of  1843  refers  in  the  above  manner  to  the  Depart- 
ment of  Finance,  it  was  not  until  six  years  later  that  it 
was  established  by  statute.  One  section  of  the  law  reads  : 
"  There  shall  be  a  bureau  of  this  department  for  the  collec- 
tion of  revenues  accruing  from  taxes.  The  chief  officer 
thereof  shall  be  called  the  '  Receiver  of  Taxes,'  who  shall 
nominate  and,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Board 


302      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 

of  Aldermen,  appoint  so  many  clerks  as  shall  be  authorized 
by  the  Common  Council."  The  Bureau  of  Taxes,  so  estab- 
lished, remained  a  part  of  the  Department  of  Finance  until  the 
charter  of  1898,  when  it  was  made  an  independent  bureau 
under  the  title  Department  of  Taxes  and  Assessments. 

The    Department   of   Taxes   and   Assessments.    In   the 
revisions  of  the  charter,  made  in  1901,  this  branch  of  the 


FIG.  196.    The  New  Custom  House 

city  government  was  given  entire  charge  of  the  assessment 
of  all  taxable  property.  At  the  head  of  the  department  is 
the  Board  of  Taxes  and  Assessments,  consisting  of  seven 
commissioners  appointed  by  the  mayor.  The  president  of 
the  board  receives  an  annual  salary  of  eight  thousand  dol- 
lars ;  each  other  commissioner  has  a  salary  of  seven  thousand 
dollars.  At  least  one  of  the  commissioners  must  be  learned 
in  law,  in  order  that  any  legal  questions  arising  at  the  meet- 
ings of  the  board  may  be  referred  to  him.  The  main  office 
of  the  department  is  in  Manhattan. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  TAXES  AND  ASSESSMENTS     303 

Duties  and  Powers.  The  board  supervises  the  work  of 
the  department  and  appoints  the  subordinate  officials,  the 
most  important  of  whom  are  the  forty-five  deputy  tax  com- 
missioners. It  also  names  a  certified  surveyor  of  the  city, 
with  a  large  number  of  assistants,  to  make  the  necessary 
surveys  and  to  prepare  the  department  maps,  as  well  as 
to  see  that  they  are  kept  accurate.  These  maps  divide 
the  city  into  sections  for  taxation,  as  can  be  seen  by  the 


FIG.  197.    Public  School  No.  188,  Manhattan 

illustration  on  page  307.  Each  section  comprises  a  certain 
number  of  city  blocks,  upon  which  each  piece  of  property 
is  indicated  by  street  and  number.  With  this  information, 
accompanied  by  the  names  of  the  owners,  surveyors  prepare 
the  annual  list.  This  list  is  published  in  the  City  Record, 
where  any  citizen  may  inspect  it.  Every  year  in  the  bor- 
ough offices  of  the  department,  under  the  supervision  of 
the  tax  board,  a  new  set  of  books  is  made,  in  which  the 
annual  record  of  the  assessed  valuation  of  real  and  personal 
properties  is  kept.  These  books  include  a  record  of  the  prop- 
erty of  the  trusts,  stock  companies,  corporations,  banks,  and 


304   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

like  institutions  in  the  city,  besides  that  of  the  private  tax- 
payers. These  enormous  volumes  contain  records  of  over 
five  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pieces  of  property,  and 
when  completed  are  kept  in  the  different  offices  under  the 
care  of  the  chief  deputies  of  real  estate.  The  work  of  tab- 
ulating them  is  so  extensive  that  it  takes  a  large  force  of 
clerks.  The  tax  rolls  are  made  from  the  records  in  these 
books,  and  the  records  are  made  from  the  reports  of  the 
deputy  commissioners,  who  examine  all  property. 

Work  of  Deputy  Commissioners.  The  deputy  commis- 
sioners commence  the  work  of  assessment  on  the  first 
Tuesday  in  September.  They  are  each  assigned  a  district 
in  which  they  make  a  personal  examination  of  all  property. 
These  districts  are  a  part  of  the  territory  described  as  sec- 
tions on  the  department  maps.  By  inquiry  and  by  their 
own  judgment  the  men  decide  the  price  at  which  the  prop- 
erty would  sell  under  ordinary  circumstances.  Each  deputy 
must  keep  a  field  book  in  which  he  enters  his  information. 
When  he  has  gone  over  all  his  district  and  has  examined 
and  reported  the  real  and  personal  property,  he  writes  up  a 
record  book  for  the  Board  of  Taxes  and  Assessments.  Each 
deputy  makes  a  sworn  statement  that  the  record  in  his 
books  is  accurate  to  the  best  of  his  knowledge.  From  these 
reports  are  made  the  records  which  are  kept  in  the  great 
books  just  described. 

l*ax  Rolls.  On  the  first  Monday  in  April,  as  it  is  tech- 
nically expressed  in  the  charter,  the  Board  of  Tax  Commis- 
sioners begin  to  correct  the  valuations  which  have  been 
made  from  these  great  books  by  the  deputies  of  real  estate, 
and  from  their  report  are  made  up  the  tax  rolls  of  the  city. 
They  must  finish  the  rolls,  of  which  there  are  more  than 


DEPARTMENT  OF  TAXES  AND  ASSESSMENTS     305 

two  hundred  and  fifty,  by  the  first  Monday  of  July,  and 
send  them  to  the  Board  of  Aldermen.  Before  this  date  the 
comptroller  prepares,  from  the  books  of  his  office,  a  state- 
ment giving  the  amount  of  money  in  the  city  treasury,  the 
money  that  will  accrue  to  it  from  the  various  bonded  invest- 
ments which  are  in  its  Sinking  Fund,  and  the  sum  that  the 
city  must  raise  by  taxation  to  meet  expenses  for  the  year. 
The  Board  of  Aldermen  must  take  this  statement  of  the 
comptroller  and  the  tax  rolls  which  the  Board  of  Taxes 
and  Assessments  have  sent  them,  and  from  these  fix  the 
rate  of  taxation. 

Rate  of  Taxation.  Each  year  the  department  adopts 
improvements.  For  a  long  time  the  rate  of  taxation  in  the 
city  was  very  low,  and  was  the  subject  of  criticism.  Prop- 
erty was  taxed  at  about  one  half  its  value,  which  greatly 
reduced  the  borrowing  capacity  of  the  city,  as  the  laws  of 
the  state  prohibit  any  city  from  borrowing  more  than  ten 
per  cent  of  the  value  of  its  real  estate.  While  the  assessed 
valuation  was  so  low  a  percentage  of  real  value,  the 
city  was  greatly  hampered  by  this  law.  In  1903  a  wise 
change  was  introduced.  At  that  time  the  corporation  was 
making  many  improvements,  such  as  building  the  Rapid 
Transit  Subway  and  extending  the  parks.  These  things 
required  more  money  than  was  available.  The  best  way  to 
get  the  needed  money  was  to  raise  the  rate  of  assessment 
to  its  proper  standard.  At  the  suggestion  of  the  mayor, 
the  tax  commissioners  did  this,  thus  greatly  increasing  the 
borrowing  capacity  of  the  city.  Within  a  year  after  the 
assessment  on  real  estate  was  placed  at  market  value 
the  borrowing  capacity  of  the  city  was  increased  over  one 
hundred  million  dollars. 


306  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

Taxpayers*  Privileges.  The  books  in  which  the  tax 
records  are  kept  are  open  for  inspection  in  the  offices  of 
the  department  in  the  various  boroughs  from  the  first  Mon- 
day in  January  to  the  first  day  of  the  following  April.  If 
any  one  thinks  his  assessment  is  wrong,  he  may,  while  the 
books  are  open,  go  to  the  tax  office  in  his  borough  and 
declare  to  the  commissioner  that  the  tax  is  too  heavy.  If 
it  concerns  the  applicant's  personal  property,  he  swears  that 
the  tax  is  too  heavy,  declaring  at  the  same  time  the  amount 
it  should  be.  Upon  this  application  the  commissioner  usually 
passes  upon  the  justness  of  the  assessment.  If  it  is  a  corpo- 
ration which  is  dissatisfied  with  the  assessment,  the  Board 
of  Taxes  and  Assessments  holds  a  formal  meeting  to  hear 
the  complaint  and  personally  examine  the  witnesses.  But 
after  the  rolls  are  published  no  change  can  be  made. 

Payment  of  Taxes.  On  or  before  September  1 5  the  cor- 
rected tax  rolls  are  sent  to  the  Receiver  of  Taxes.  The 
city  clerk  prepares  a  warrant  in  which  he  swears  that  the 
rolls  are  correct.  This  warrant  is  signed  by  the  presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  and  is  also  countersigned 
by  the  city  clerk.  It  authorizes  the  Receiver  of  Taxes  to 
collect  the  specified  sum  opposite  each  name.  The  tax 
books  for  the  payment  of  taxes  are  opened  on  the  first 
Monday  in  October,  in  the  Receiver's  office.  Every  citizen 
who  pays  his  taxes  between  that  day  and  November  I  is 
allowed  a  discount  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent.  If  he  does  not 
pay  them  by  December  i,  one  per  cent  is  added.  If  they  are 
not  paid  by  January  i,  seven  per  cent  is  charged  from  the 
first  day  of  October,  and  the  tax  bill  becomes  a  lien  on  his 
property.  Should  the  tax  remain  unpaid  at  the  end  of  three 
years,  the  property  may  be  sold  to  satisfy  the  lien.  Even 


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3°7 


308     GOVERNMENT  OF  THE   CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

then  the  city  is  very  lenient  to  the  delinquent  taxpayer. 
Although  his  property  is  sold,  the  sale  holds  for  only  a  term 
of  years,  during  which  time  the  original  owner  may  buy  it 
back  if  he  desires.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  property  through- 
out the  city  which  the  municipal  government  exempts  from 
taxation,  such  as  churches,  public  school  buildings,  univer- 
sities, colleges,  free  hospitals,  and  the  property  of  certain 
other  charitable  institutions. 


Summary.  New  York  City  is  a  business  corporation  owning 
much  property  and  engaged  in  many  business  enterprises.  The  citi- 
zens are  shareholders  helping  to  maintain  and  support  it  by  paying 
taxes.  There  is  no  taxation  upon  corporate  property.  Property  which 
once  belonged  to  the  city  was  granted  away  in  franchises,  and  must 
now  be  bought  back.  The  management  of  taxation  is  an  important 
part  of  the  city  government.  During  colonial  days  tax  assessment 
and  collection  was  in  charge  of  collectors.  In  1 843  these  collectors 
were  discontinued,  and  an  office  for  the  collection  of  taxes  was  made  a 
division  of  the  Department  of  Finance.  The  charter  of  1898  made  this 
division  one  of  the  fifteen  administrative  departments  of  the  city  gov- 
ernment. It  is  under  the  control  of  seven  commissioners,  who  com- 
prise the  Board  of  Taxes  and  Assessments,  and  who  have  charge  of 
the  assessment  of  property  and  the  collection  of  taxes. 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

THE  CIVIL  SERVICE  COMMISSION  OF  THE  CITY  OF 
NEW  YORK 

What  is  the  Civil  Service  Law?  The  term  " civil  service" 
refers  to  employment  in  the  federal,  state,  or  city  govern- 
ment. In  1883  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  passed 
an  enactment  called  the  Civil  Service  Law.  This  law  made 
all  appointments  and  promotions  in  the  federal  service  de- 
pendent upon  competitive  examination.  It  authorized  the 
President  to  appoint  three  men,  called  Civil  Service  Commis- 
sioners, who  should  constitute  a  Civil  Service  Commission. 
This  commission  was  given  full  power  to  put  into  execution 
the  provisions  of  the  new  law.  It  established  headquarters 
at  Washington,  with  branch  offices  in  many  parts  of  the 
country.  Since  that  time  all  applicants  for  federal  positions 
have  had  to  appear  before  this  commission,  or  one  of  its 
branches,  and  take  a  competitive  examination.  In  almost 
every  case  these  examinations  are  of  an  educational  char- 
acter. Every  applicant  must  pass  them  creditably  before 
he  is  eligible  to  any  appointment  in  the  federal  government. 

The  Necessity  for  the  Civil  Service  Law.  Before  the  enact- 
ment of  the  law  public  opinion  had  demanded  that  there 
should  be  some  legislation  on  the  subject  of  civil  service. 
In  the  early  days  of  our  republic  the  federal  positions  were 
filled  by  presidential  appointment.  When  they  were  thus 
made  they  were  held  as  long  as  the  appointee  performed 
his  duty  faithfully.  This  was  as  it  should  be.  But  when 

3°9 


310  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


General  Jackson  became  the  chief  executive  he  conceived 
the  idea  that  his  predecessor's  administration  had  been 
dishonest;  and  Sumner,  in  his  Life  of  Jackson,  says  that 

Jackson  during  the 
first  year  of  his  presi- 
dency turned  out 
more  than  two  thou- 
sand federal  officers, 
to  place  men  of  his 
own  party  in  their 
stead.  For  more  than 
fifty  years  afterwards 
succeeding  Presi- 
dents followed  Jack- 
son's example.  The 
result  was  that  gov- 
ernment positions 
were  promised  as  in- 
ducements for  parti- 
san service.  This 
custom  was  un- 
Anierican  and  was 
demoralizing  to  good 
service  and  pure  gov- 
ernment. 

How  New  York  State  came  to  adopt  the  Civil  Service  Law, 
and  the  Need  for  it  in  the  City.  Just  as  national  politics  had 
become  corrupt  through  the  abuse  of  patronage,  so  the  civil 
service  of  cities  degenerated  into  bribery  and  a  scramble 
for  the  municipal  offices.  Some  of  the  men  who  wanted  the 
higher  civic  positions  would  promise  all  the  minor  ones  to 


FIG.  199.    Civil  Service  Building 


THE  CIVIL  SERVICE  COMMISSION  311 

whoever  would  bring  them  the  most  votes.  This  went  on 
to  such  an  extent  that  many  good  citizens  became  disgusted 
and  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  politics,  which  was, 
of  course,  unwise  in  the  good  citizens  and  most  unfortunate 
for  the  city.  In  New  York  City  this  was  lamentably  true. 
Consequently,  when  the  national  government  enacted  the 
Civil  Service  Law  the  New  York  state  legislature  adopted 
a  similar  one,  thereby  becoming  one  of  the  first  states  of 


FIG.  200.    New  York  Public  Library,  Fifth  Avenue  and 
Forty-second  Street 

the  Union  to  appoint  a  permanent  civil  service  commis- 
sion. This  commission  had  its  headquarters  at  Albany, 
under  three  commissioners,  and  as  rapidly  as  possible  es- 
tablished branch  commissions  in  the  cities  throughout  the 
state.  The  duty  of  the  commission  is  to  prepare  and  con- 
duct competitive  examinations  of  all  applicants  for  employ- 
ment in  the  public  service  of  the  state.  It  also  established 
a  similar  commission  in  each  city,  to  conduct  competitive 
examinations  of  all  applicants  for  municipal  offices.  This 
was  a  great  reform  and  has  resulted  most  beneficially  for 
the  public  service.  By  making  applicants  compete  in  ex- 
aminations it  fills  the  public  positions  on  a  basis  of  merit, 
and,  in  a  measure  at  least,  sees  that  the  persons  who  gain 
appointments  are  fitted  to  occupy  them. 


312      GOVERNMENT   OF  THE  CITY   OF  NEW  YORK 

New  York  City's  Civil  Service  Commission.  By  the  pro- 
vision of  the  state  enactment,  nearly  all  civil  positions  in  the 
cities  are  under  the  Civil  Service  Law.  In  the  City  of  New 
York  the  Civil  Service  Commission  is  an  important  part  of 
the  municipal  government,  for  there  are  thousands  of  posi- 
tions which  come  under  this  law.  The  commission  is  com- 
posed of  six  professional  or  business  men  who  are  appointed 
by  the  mayor,  the  majority  of  whom  are  of  the  dominating 
political  party.  With  the  exception  of  the  president  of  the 
board,  who  has  charge  of  the  headquarters  of  the  commis- 
sion at  No.  6 1  Elm  Street,  and  who  manages  its  affairs, 
they  serve  without  salary.  Besides  the  president  there 
is  a  secretary  to  the  commission,  one  assistant  secretary, 
and  a  large  number  of  clerks,  as  well  as  a  board  of  exam- 
iners consisting  of  a  chief  examiner  and  some  twenty  other 
examiners. 

The  City's  Civil  Service  Law.  This  law  requires :  ( i )  that 
all  appointments,  promotions,  or  selections  for  employment 
shall  be  made  according  to  the  merit  and  fitness  of  the 
candidate ;  (2)  that  all  city  employees  must  be  appointed 
according  to  civil  service  rules,  and  cannot  change  their 
official  status,  except  according  to  the  civil  service  rules; 
(3)  that  political  influence  must  not  be  used  to  secure  ap- 
pointments ;  (4)  that  no  one  in  office  must  influence  a  can- 
didate politically,  and  no  discrimination  must  be  used  against 
him  for  his  political  views;  (5)  that  every  employee  must 
perform  the  duties  for  which  he  was  appointed. 

This  law  virtually  covers  the  entire  field  of  city  employees. 
It  divides  them  into  four  classes:  (i)  the  Exempt  Class^ 
(2)  the  Competitive  Class,  (3)  the  Non-Competitive  Class, 
and  (4)  the  Labor  Class. 


THE  CIVIL  SERVICE  COMMISSION 


313 


The  Exempt 
Class  is  made  up  of 
those  who,  at  the 
discretion  of  the  ap- 
pointing officer,  are 
made  to  succeed  to 
positions  without  an 
examination.  This 
class  includes  the 
secretaries  of  many 
of  the  commissions 
and  boards  of  the 
various  city  depart- 
ments. It  includes 
also  the  deputy 
commissioners,  su- 
perintendents, and 
certain  clerks. 

The  Competitive 
Class,  those  who 
take  the  competi- 
tive examinations, 
includes  the  great 
majority  of  all  who 
apply  for  civil  posi- 
tions, —  clerks,  ex- 
aminers,  inspec- 
tors, engineers,  the 
members  of  the 
Police  and  Fire 
Departments. 


3 14      GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 

The  Non- Competitive  Class  is  composed  of  those  who 
apply  for  minor  positions  in  the  city  institutions,  and  which 
it  is  not  practicable  to  fill  from  the  Competitive  Class.  In 
this  class  are  superintendents  of  the  New  York  Training 
School  for  Nurses,  hospital  helpers,  apothecaries,  waiters, 
deck  hands  and  mates,  and  a  few  others. 

The  Labor  Class  includes  all  those  not  obliged  to  take 
an  educational  competitive  examination.  They  do,  how- 
ever, undergo  a  physical  examination.  The  physicians  of 
the  bureau  examine  the  candidates  for  these  places  with 
particular  reference  to  their  strength  or  powers  of  endur- 
ance for  the  duties  they  will  have  to  perform.  They  are 
examined  rigidly  as  to  their  habits  in  the  use  of  stimulants 
and  narcotics,  and  also  as  to  their  skill  in  the  use  of  the 
tools  of  their  trade. 

The  Examiners.  The  commission  has  a  large  corps  of 
examiners  who  conduct  the  civil  service  examinations. 
With  those  who  examine  applicants  in  clerical  studies 
there  are  a  number  of  medical  and  engineering  examiners, 
an  expert  architect,  and  a  civil  engineer,  besides  specialists 
in  other  trades  and  professions.  An  interesting  fact  about 
these  examiners  is  that  each  and  every  one  of  them  is  put 
through  a  rigid  examination  himself  before  he  can  assume 
his  duties  as  an  examiner. 

How  the  Examinations  are  Conducted.  In  the  first  place, 
a  person  who  wishes  a  position  within  the  gift  of  the  city 
must  apply  to  the  commission  for  an  application  blank  of 
such  position.  On  the  blank  which  is  given  him  he  states 
his  name,  age,  experience,  and  other  matters  relating  to 
his  general  character  and  fitness  for  the  particular  posi- 
tion which  he  desires.  With  this  he  must  furnish  a  voucher 


315 


316   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


containing  four  certificates  as  to  the  truthfulness  of  what 
he  has  written.  These  papers  are  filed  with  the  commis- 
sion. When  an  examination  is  to  be  held  for  the  position 
for  which  he  has  made  application,  it  is  advertised  in  the 
daily  papers  and  he  is  notified  to  appear  before  the  exam- 
iners on  a  certain  date.  Examinations  for  the  civil  service 

positions  are  held  at 
stated  times,  and  spe- 
cial examinations  are 
also  called  when  vacan- 
cies occur  in  any  of  the 
divisions  of  the  admin- 
istrative departments  of 
the  municipal  govern- 
ment. The  greatest 
care  is  taken  to  make 
these  examinations  prac- 
tical. The  questions  are 
prepared  by  a  chief  ex- 
aminer, with  a  large 
corps  of  assistants.  Be- 
fore such  examinations 
the  list  of  questions  to  be  used  is  inspected  by  the  chief 
examiner  with  particular  reference  as  to  their  practicality. 
These  examinations  have  the  rudimentary  educational 
studies  as  a  general  basis ;  but  from  a  candidate  who  is 
applying  for  a  clerkship  where  it  will  be  necessary  for  him 
to  make  an  abstract  of  letters,  or  to  keep  files  of  documents, 
or  to  prepare  an  abstract  of  some  paper,  showing  how  it  is  to 
be  folded  and  filed,  this  work  is  required.  Or,  if  it  will  be 
necessary,  in  the  position  for  which  he  is  applying,  for  the 


FIG.  203.    Basket  Making  as  taught  in  a 
Summer  School 


THE  CIVIL  SERVICE  COMMISSION 


317 


applicant  to  add  long  columns  of  figures,  he  is  tested  as 
to  his  ability  in  this  particular  line  of  work.  If  he  is  to  be 
a  bookkeeper,  he  is  examined  in  bookkeeping.  This  is  an 
illustration  of  the  manner  in  which  the  examinations  are 
made  practical. 

Special  Examinations.    Many  of  the  city  positions  require 
specialists  along  certain  lines,  and  the  applicants  for  such 


FIG.  204.    Public  School  No.  124,  Brooklyn 

positions  are  given  special  examinations.  When  one  of  the 
parks  needs  a  landscape  gardener  some  eminent  floricul- 
turist is  asked  to  come  to  the  civil  service  headquarters 
and  examine  the  candidates.  He  makes  his  examina- 
tion along  the  line  of  duties  which  the  position  involves. 
Candidates  who  are  masons  and  plumbers  by  trade,  and 
who  are  applying  for  such  positions,  are  examined  at  the 
trades  schools  under  the  eye  of  a  competent  foreman,  who 


318  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

requires  them  to  perform  some  piece  of  work  of  their  own 
trade.  A  policeman  or  a  fireman,  who  is  to  be  promoted, 
is  asked  to  explain  what  he  would  do  in  case  of  great 
riots  or  fires.  An  applicant  for  the  place  of  inspector  of 
foods,  fuels,  lamps,  or  gas,  or  for  similar  positions,  is  thor- 
oughly tested  as  to  his  knowledge  of  the  duties  he  wishes 
to  assume. 

How 'Appointments  are  Made.  After  the  applicant  has 
taken  the  examination  all  his  papers  are  read  carefully  by 
two  different  examiners  and  are  graded  by  the  average 
results  of  the  two.  The  names  of  those  who  have  passed 
successfully  are  placed  on  what  is  called  the  eligible  list, 
ranking  according  to  their  examination  marks.  When  a 
vacancy  occurs  in  any  department  of  the  city  government 
the  three  highest  names  are  selected  from  the  list  of  those 
who  have  passed  the  examination  required  for  such  an 
appointment,  and  sent  to  the  appointing  officer  of  the  de- 
partment desiring  the  clerk.  From  this  list  the  successful 
candidate  is  selected.  Even  with  this  careful  preliminary 
work  all  appointments  are  made  on  probation  ;  that  is,  if  the 
appointee  does  not  prove  himself  a  satisfactory  employee,  he 
may,  within  the  probationary  period,  be  dropped  from  the 
rolls.  If  any  employee  of  the  city  government  is  discharged 
in  a  manner  which  he  considers  unfair,  upon  his  request 
the  Civil  Service  Commission  will  investigate  his  case.  All 
old  soldiers  are  given  preference  when  appointments  are 
made.  Civil  service  is  an  incentive  to  all  boys  and  girls 
to  secure  as  good  an  education  as  possible,  for  the  better 
they  are  educated  the  better  will  be  their  opportunity 
to  succeed  in  life. 


THE  CIVIL  SERVICE  COMMISSION  319 

Summary.  In  1 883  Congress  passed  the  Civil  Service,  Law,  by  which 
federal  positions  are  filled  according  to  merit.  The  New  York  state 
legislature  soon  followed  the  example  of  the  United  States  government, 
and  appointed  a  permanent  state  Civil  Service  Commission,  with  head- 
quarters at  Albany.  By  the  provisions  of  the  state  law,  nearly  all  of 
the  municipal  positions  were  put  under  civil  service  regulations.  The 
Civil  Service  Commission  of  New  York  City  is  composed  of  six 
professional  and  business  men  appointed  by  the  mayor.  With  the 
exception  of  the  president  of  the  commission,  who  has  charge  of  the 
headquarters,  they  serve  without  salary.  Candidates  for  municipal 
positions  appear  before  this  commission  and  are  examined  in  common- 
school  branches  or  undergo  physical  examinations.  For  specialists 
along  certain  lines  special  examinations  are  prepared.  After  the 
examination  the  applicant's  papers  are  read  by  two  different  examiners 
and  graded.  Those  who  pass  are  placed  on  the  eligible  list,  ranking 
according  to  their  examination  marks. 


CHAPTER   XXVII 

THE   CITY  JUDICIARY 

The  Sources  of  the  Law.  In  olden  times  when  two  men 
disagreed  they  fought  out  their  dispute,  and  the  stronger 
took  his  neighbor's  property  or  life.  But  as  men  grew  more 
civilized  they  learned  that  neither  safety  nor  justice  could 
be  attained  by  such  methods,  and  so  came  to  rely  upon 
their  kings  for  protection  and  for  enforcement  of  their 
rights.  The  kings  in  time  came  to  appoint  judges  to  hear 
accusations  against  those  who  had  injured  their  fellow- 
citizens,  and  to  decide  their  disputes.  These  judges  listened 
to  both  sides  of  the  controversy  and  decided  where  the 
truth  lay;  and  then  if  it  appeared  that  the  person  accused 
had  injured  his  neighbor,  they  inflicted  punishment  on  the 
guilty  or  awarded  damages  to  the  injured.  At  first  the  cus- 
toms of  the  people  were  the  only  guide  by  which  the  judges 
could  determine  whether  or  not  an  injury  had  been  com- 
mitted; later  the  decrees  of  kings,  and  in  England  the  stat- 
utes enacted  by  Parliament,  were  consulted.  As  a  result 
the  common  usages  of  the  people  became  better  and  better 
defined,  and  their  ideas  of  right  and  wrong  clearer,  until 
at  the  time  of  the  American  Revolution  there  existed  in 
England  a  large  body  of  rules  for  the  protection  of  life  and 
property,  and  for  the  regulation  of  affairs  between  men. 
These  rules,  partly  in  the  form  of  statutes  and  partly  in  the 
form  of  decisions  of  judges,  constitute  what  is  known  as 
the  Common  Law,  and  are  the  basis  of  our  present  system 

320 


321 


322  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

of  jurisprudence,  that  is  of  law.  Of  course,  as  new  condi- 
tions have  arisen  new  questions  have  come  up  between 
men.  The  invention  of  the  steam  engine  and  the  electric 
motor,  for  instance,  have  produced  greater  changes  in  daily 
life  than  did  all  the  improvements  of  the  Middle  Ages;  so 
that  one  might  suppose  we  would  be  beyond  the  reach  of 
the  law  which  prevailed  in  1776.  But  the  principles  of  the 
Common  Law  are  deeper  than  steam  and  electricity,  and 
the  old  rules  can  still  be  applied  to  the  new  facts.  When 
from  time  to  time  the  legislature  finds  it  necessary  to 
change  the  Common  Law,  the  new  statute  must  in  every 
case  prevail,  no  matter  what  has  been  the  rule  previously. 
A  surprisingly  large  number  of  statutes,  however,  simply 
collect  and  fit  together,  or,  as  it  is  called,  "codify,"  exist- 
ing law,  or  else  modify  it  only  in  some  slight  detail.  At 
present  so  much  of  the  law  has  been  codified  that  we  look 
to  the  general  laws  and  codes  for  most  of  our  information; 
but  beneath  all  of  them  we  recognize  the  familiar  rules  of 
the  Common  Law,  and  in  their  light  we  make  our  interpre- 
tations of  the  formal  codes. 

Kinds  of  Law :  Criminal  Law.  There  are  certain  kinds 
of  injuries  which  people  have  found  are  best  attended  to 
by  the  government,  while  others  are  best  left  to  the  party 
injured.  The  first  class  consists  of  injuries  to  society,  and 
includes  immoral  acts  like  forgery  and  violent  acts  like 
murder.  It  would  quickly  upset  our  whole  system  of  gov- 
ernment if  persons  committing  such  actions  were  not  called 
to  account  by  the  whole  community  and  punished.  So  the 
state  takes  the  matter  in  charge  and  brings  the  offender 
to  court,  where  he  is  dealt  with  according  to  the  rules  of 
the  criminal  law.  In  so  doing  the  people  as  a  whole  look 


THE  CITY  JUDICIARY  323 

out  for  their  own  interests,  and  by  punishing  the  criminal 
seek  to  protect  themselves  from  a  repetition  of  the  crime. 
According  to  the  severity  of  the  punishment  the  crime  is 
classed  as  a  felony,  that  is  a  crime  punishable  by  death  or 
by  imprisonment  in  the  state  prison ;  or  as  a  misdemeanor, 
that  is  any  crime  where  the  punishment  is  less  severe. 
The  punishment  is  graded  according  to  the  nature  of  the 
offense.  Murder,  for  instance,  is  a  felony  punishable  by 
death,  because  nothing  can  be  of  greater  importance  than 
the  security  of  life,  and  a  man  who  committed  murder  must 
therefore  be  removed  from  society.  The  security  of  property 
is  less  important,  and  therefore  the  theft  of  ten  thousand 
dollars  or  the  burning  of  a  warehouse,  while  still  a  felony, 
is  merely  punishable  by  imprisonment  instead  of  by  death. 
Civil  Law.  If  the  property  concerned  is  of  trifling 
importance  only,  the  person  who  injures  it  will  be  guilty 
merely  of  a  misdemeanor,  as  in  the  case  of  a  man  who 
shoots  a  squirrel  in  the  park.  According  to  this  difference 
in  degree  of  crimes  the  criminal  courts  are  graded  so  that 
the  higher  courts  hear  cases  of  felony,  while  the  lower 
courts  are  confined  to  misdemeanors.  The  second  class  of 
injuries  above  referred  to  consists  of  private  injuries,  that 
is,  acts  that  may  safely  be  left  to  the  injured  party  to  look 
after  himself,  and  for  which  he  will  be  compensated  by  the 
courts.  This  class  includes  railroad  accidents  caused  by 
the  carelessness  of  employees,  and  failure  by  a  debtor  to 
pay  what  he  owes.  For  such  injuries  the  person  in  the 
wrong  is  made  to  pay  in  money  for  the  loss  he  has  caused, 
according  to  the  rules  of  the  civil  law.  An  act  may  be 
both  a  crime  and  a  civil  offense ;  as,  for  instance,  if  a  man 
buys  a  suit  of  clothes  with  a  counterfeit  ten-dollar  bill,  he 


324     GOVERNMENT  OF  THE   CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

may  be  punished  by  the  government  for  passing  the  counter- 
feit money,  and  also  sued  by  the  tailor  for  the  value  of  the 
clothes  obtained  by  fraud.  But  the  two  offenses  would  be 
governed  by  two  different  rules  of  law  and  the  cases  would 
be  tried  in  different  courts.  The  old  rule  of  the  civil  law, 
that  private  injuries  should  be  compensated  by  money  to 
the  amount  of  the  damage  inflicted,  was  found,  even  in  very 
ancient  times,  to  be  inadequate  to  produce  justice  in  all 
cases.  Many  citizens  had  to  apply  to  the  king  for  other 
relief,  and  as  he  gave  help  from  time  to  time  through  his 
chancellor,  there  grew  up  rules  governing  such  cases,  until 
finally  there  was  formed  a  separate  division  of  jurispru- 
dence known  as  equity.  Injuries  calling  for  equitable  relief 
include  some  wrong  act  in  the  future,  such  as  selling  an 
artificial  mineral  water  under  the  name  "  Vichy,"  in  com- 
petition with  the  natural  water  from  Vichy  springs.  Against 
such  unfair  methods  the  court  will  grant  a  decree  called  an 
injunction.  At  the  present  time  in  New  York  many  of  the 
old  distinctions  between  law  and  equity  have  disappeared ; 
but  even  now  equity  is  administered  by  the  higher  courts 
only,  and  none  of  the  courts  regulated  by  the  city  charter 
has  any  equitable  jurisdiction. 

Although  we  hear  a  great  deal  more  in  the  newspapers 
about  criminal  courts  than  about  civil,  the  latter  are  much 
more  important  in  everyday  life,  keep  many  more  judges 
busy,  and  try  a  vastly  greater  number  of  cases. 

Judicial  Procedure.  Courts  are  presided  over  by  judges, 
who  in  most  cases  are  elected  by  the  people.  The  judges 
have  to  decide  all  questions  of  law  which  come  before  them, 
and  in  criminal  cases  to  pass  sentence.  The  records  of  the 
court  are  kept  by  the  clerk.  The  judgment  rendered  in 


THE  CITY  JUDICIARY  325 

any  case  is  enforced  by  the  sheriff  or  marshal,  who  is  the 
executive  officer  of  the  court.  Attorneys  are  also  officers 
of  the  court ;  they  have  to  pass  an  examination  and  get 
some  one  to  certify  to  their  good  moral  character  before 
they  are  permitted  to  appear  in  court  and  try  cases.  After 
being  admitted  to  the  bar  lawyers  are  still  under  the 
supervision  of  the  court,  and  are  liable  to  be  excluded 
from  practice,  or  disbarred,  as  it  is  called,  if  they  misbehave 
flagrantly.  In  criminal  cases  a  lawyer  must  defend  the 
prisoner  if  directed  to  by  the  court,  so  that  no  man,. how- 
ever poor  and  friendless,  is  left  without  protection  when 
charged  with  a  crime.  For  such  services  the  prisoner  is 
not  obliged  to  pay  any  fee. 

The  District  Attorney.  Another  officer  of  the  court  in 
criminal  cases  is  the  district  attorney,  who  represents  the 
people  in  the  prosecution  of  crimes,  and  has  the  important 
duty  of  investigating  charges  against  offenders,  and,  if  he 
is  satisfied  that  the  charges  are  well  founded,  of  presenting 
the  evidence  to  the  grand  jury  and  the  Court  of  General 
Sessions  or  the  County  Court.  The  district  attorney  is  also 
required  to  attend  the  Court  of  Special  Sessions,  and  has 
charge  of  those  few  criminal  cases  which  are  tried  in  the 
Supreme  Court.  His  office  in  New  York  County  is  hardly 
second  in  importance  to  that  of  the  mayor,  as  a  weak  or 
dishonest  district  attorney  will  allow  many  laws  to  be  vio- 
lated, and  will  permit  vice  and  crime  to  go  unpunished. 
There  are  also  certain  officers,  called  probation  officers, 
appointed  by  the  Court  of  Special  Sessions  and  by  the  city 
magistrates.  It  is  their  duty  to  look  up  the  history  of  persons 
accused  of  drunkenness,  disorderly  conduct,  and  vagrancy, 
and  to  advise  the  court  how  the  cases  should  be  disposed 


326      GOVERNMENT   OF  THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 


JfllVfe 


of ;  and  also  to  keep  watch  over  criminals  who,  instead  of 
being  sent  to  jail,  are  released  and  given  a  chance  to  reform. 
Lawsuits  may  involve  only  questions  of  law,  as,  in  many 
actions,  construing  wills  and  testing  cases  to  determine  the 
validity  of  statutes ;  or  only  questions  of  fact,  as  in  many 
accident  cases;  but  most  actions  bring  up  both  law  and 
fact  to  be  decided.  Questions  of  law  are  decided  by  the 

judge,  whether  they 
are  the  main  issue  of 
the  case  or  arise  only 
in  the  course  of  prov- 
ing facts.  Questions 
of  fact  are  sometimes 
decided  by  the  judge, 
as  in  equity  cases, 
but  more  often  by 
the  jury. 

The  Jury.  The 
jury  is  one  of  the  in- 
stitutions of  the  Common  Law  which  has  been  important 
in  safeguarding  our  liberty,  and  is  still  regarded  with  vener- 
ation. In  the  Middle  Ages  the  kings  were  often  arbitrary 
and  tyrannical,  and  were  able  to  influence  the  judges  whom 
they  appointed ;  but  so  long  as  the  jury  intervened  to  decide 
questions  of  fact  there  was  great  protection  for  the  oppressed 
people.  Consequently  we  have  clung  to  the  jury  and  have 
ever  since  regarded  it  as  one  of  the  most  important  parts  of 
our  legal  system.  A  unanimous  verdict  of  guilty  by  twelve 
jurors  is  necessary  before  any  criminal  can  be  deprived  of 
his  life,  and  in  many  civil  cases  also  the  jury  must  decide 
unanimously  which  story  is  correct,  the  plaintiff's  or  the 


FIG.  206.    Hall  of  Records,  Chambers  Street 


THE  CITY  JUDICIARY  327 

defendant's.  The  plaintiff  is  the  one  who  commences  a 
lawsuit,  while  the  defendant  is  the  one  who  is  obliged  to 
make  answer  in  the  suit. 

After  the  trial  the  defeated  party  has  the  right  of  appeal 
to  a  higher  court,  and  often  he  may  .have  a  second  appeal  if 
he  is  still  unsuccessful.  There  is,  however,  one  exception 
to  this  rule,  and  that  is  that  the  state  cannot  appeal  if  unsuc- 
cessful in  a  criminal  case.  On  the  appeal  the  facts  are  not 
proved  again,  but  only  the  stenographer's  record  of  the  testi- 
mony is  presented  to  the  upper  court,  which  is  then  asked 
to  determine  whether  the  rules  of  the  law  were  correctly 
applied  to  those  facts,  or  perhaps  what  the  real  meaning 
of  the  testimony  is.  If  a  second  appeal  is  taken,  the  argu- 
ment must  almost  always  be  confined  to  questions  of  law. 

System  of  Courts.  In  New  York  City  a  large  number 
of  different  courts  hold  their  sessions.  The  United  States 
Circuit  Court  of  Appeals,  Circuit  Court,  and  District 
Court  are  courts  organized  by  Congress,  and  confine  them- 
selves to  cases  arising  under  congressional  statutes,  —  the 
most  numerous  of  which  are  bankruptcy  cases,  —  to  cases 
between  citizens  of  different  states,  and  to  a  few  others. 
The  New  York  courts  are  not  all  regulated  by  the  charter 
merely  because  they  sit  within  the  city.  The  most  impor- 
tant of  these  state  courts  is  the  Supreme  Court,  for  the 
Court  of  Appeals,  the  highest  court  in  the  state,  sits  at 
Albany,  where  it  is  engaged  exclusively  in  the  hearing  of 
appeals.  The  appellate  division  of  the  Supreme  Court  for 
the  first  judicial  department  is  a  court  for  the  hearing  of 
appeals  from  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  New  York 
County,  and  from  judgments  of  the  Courts  of  General  and 
Special  Sessions.  In  Kings  County  the  appellate  division 


328    GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

sits  for  the  second  department,  to  which  go  appeals  from 
all  the  lower  courts  except  Magistrates'  Courts  in  Kings, 
Queens,  and  Richmond  counties.  The  Supreme  Court  has 
sessions  in  each  county.  It  is  the  oldest  court  in  the  state 
and  tries  all  sorts  of  cases.  The  most  important  lawsuits 
are  brought  in  this  court,  which  is  always  overburdened 
with  work,  in  spite  of  its  many  justices.  Each  county  also 
has  a  Surrogate  Court,  which  takes  charge  of  the  estates 
of  deceased  persons.  In  Kings,  Queens,  and  Richmond 
counties  the  County  Court  is  next  in  importance  to  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  hears  criminal  cases  and  civil  law 
cases  against  residents  of  the  counties  where  the  amount 
in  dispute  does  not  exceed  two  thousand  dollars.  There  is 
no  county  court  in  New  York  County,  where  the  City 
Court  of  the  City  of  New  York  takes  its  place  for  civil 
cases,  and  the  Court  of  General  Sessions  for  criminal  cases. 
The  latter  does  not  come  under  the  charter,  but  the  City 
Court  is  governed  by  the  charter,  and  we  shall  consider  it 
more  fully  hereafter.  Next  lower  in  the  scale  come  the 
Municipal  Courts,  which  try  civil  law  cases  where  the 
amount  in  dispute  does  not  exceed  five  hundred  dollars ; 
the  Court  of  Special  Sessions,  with  criminal  jurisdiction  of 
misdemeanors  ;  and  finally  Magistrates'  Courts,  which  have 
jurisdiction  only  to  commit  persons  to  trial  for  crime  and 
to  try  persons  charged  with  vagrancy  or  disorderly  con- 
duct. The  judges  in  all  the  courts  regulated  by  the  char- 
ter hold  office  for  ten  years.  A  long  term  is  desirable  in 
order  to  remove  them  from  political  influence  and  make 
them  independent  in  their  decisions. 

Civil  Courts  under  the  Charter.    We  have  seen  in  the 
preceding  paragraph  that  only  a  few  of  the  lowest  courts 


THE   CITY  JUDICIARY  329 

are  regulated  by  the  charter.  On  the  civil  side  these  con- 
sist of  the  City  Court  and  the  Municipal  Court.  While  the 
City  Court  was  continued  in  existence  by  the  charter  from 
a  court  which  existed  before,  its  powers  are  not  denned 
there,  but  in  the  Code  of  Civil  Procedure.  The  Municipal 
Court  is  a  continuation  of  the  old  District  Court  in  Man- 
hattan and  the  courts  of  the  justices  of  the  peace  in  Brook- 
lyn. Its  powers  are  denned  by  the  charter,  but  its  procedure, 
formerly  regulated  by  a  provision  of  that  statute,  is  now 
governed  by  a  law  known  as  the  Municipal  Court  Act. 

City  Court.  The  City  Court  has  grown  out  of  a  court 
originally  established  for  hearing  the  claims  of  sailors,  and 
known  as  the  Marine  Court.  It  now  has  jurisdiction  of  civil 
law  cases  where  the  amount  in  dispute  does  not  exceed  two 
thousand  dollars.  As  the  court  has  had  to  deal  only  with 
small  cases,  it  has  been  overshadowed  by  the  Supreme 
Court  and  has  not  attracted  the  best  talent  to  the  bar  either 
for  its  judges  or  for  its  practitioners.  An  effort  has  been 
made  by  recent  legislation  to  give  greater  dignity  to  this 
work  and  oblige  it  to  take  a  greater  share  of  the  many  cases 
which  constantly  overcrowd  the  Supreme  Court.  The  City 
Court  consists,  of  a  chief  justice  and  five  other  justices. 
Cases  are  tried  before  a  jury  of  twelve  citizens.  Appeals 
may  be  taken  to  a  branch  of  the  Supreme  Court  consisting 
of  three  judges  and  known  as  the  Appellate  Term. 

Municipal  Court.  The  Municipal  Court  is  known  as  the 
"  poor  man's  court."  It  consists  of  twenty-five  justices, 
who  hold  court  in  all  different  parts  of  the  city  from 
New  Brighton  to  Jamaica.  The  boroughs  are  divided  into 
districts,  from  each  of  which  a  justice  is  elected.  Manhat- 
tan has  thirteen  districts,  The  Bronx  two,  Brooklyn  five, 


330    GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

Queens  three,  and  Richmond  two.  Within  their  own 
boroughs  the  justices  sit  in  turn  in  each  different  district. 
The  court  hears  small  cases,  mostly  for  wages  or  for  sales 
made  by  tradesmen  who  have  not  been  paid.  It  encour- 
ages people  to  present  their  claims  personally  instead  of 
employing  lawyers  to  sue  for  them,  and  it  makes  liberal 
provision  in  favor  of  poor  people.  An  employee  may  sue 
for  wages  without  paying  court  fees,  and  any  person  riot 
worth  one  hundred  dollars  may  be  relieved  from  paying 
court  fees,  without  regard  to  the  nature  of  his  claim. 
Another  reason  why  the  Municipal  Court  is  of  great 
importance  to  the  poor  man  is  because  it  is  the  only  court 
in  which  his  case  can  be  tried  promptly.  If  he  brings  suit 
in  the  Supreme  Court,  it  may  be  two  years  before  his  case 
comes  to  trial,  because  there  are  so  many  cases  ahead  of 
him  that  he  has  to  wait  his  turn ;  and  conditions  are 
almost  as  bad  in  the  City  Court  and  in  the  Kings  County 
Court.  But  in  the  Municipal  Court  the  case  can  always 
be  tried  within  a  few  weeks.  To  an  employee  living  on 
the  wages  he  earns  from  week  to  week  the  certainty  of 
being  able  to  collect  what  is  due  him  within  a  short  time 
is  a  matter  of  great  importance,  for  justice  delayed  is  often 
justice  denied.  An  attempt  has  been  made  by  recent  laws 
to  relieve  the  delay  in  the  upper  courts  by  requiring  more 
cases  to  be  brought  in  the  Municipal  Court,  and  for  this 
purpose  the  limit  of  the  amount  in  dispute  in  Municipal 
Court  cases  has  been  raised  from  two  hundred  and  fifty  to 
five  hundred  dollars. 

Another  important  branch  of  Municipal  Court  business 
is  the  granting  of  aid  to  landlords  whose  tenants  refuse  to 
pay  their  rent.  If  you  own  a  house  and  let  an  apartment 


THE  CITY  JUDICIARY  331 

to  John  Smith,  and  he  fails  to  pay  his  rent,  you  can  serve 
notice  on  him  to  appear  in  the  Municipal  Court  in  three 
days  and  explain  why  he  is  in  arrears.  Unless  he  pays  his 
rent  within  three  days  the  judge  will  order  him  to  move 
out,  and  if  he  has  not  gone  within  the  time  set  by  the 
judge,  usually  about  two  days,  the  marshal  will  come  and 
move  his  furniture  out  of  the  apartment.  By  this  pro- 
cedure, which  is  called  "  summary  proceedings  to  dispos- 
sess," you  can  get  rid  of  a  shiftless  tenant  in  a  week. 

Most  of  the  cases  in  the  Municipal  Court  are  tried  by  the 
judge  alone,  but  either  party  may  ask  for  a  jury  of  six  citi- 
zens. Appeals  from  judgments  of  this  court  in  the  boroughs 
of  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx  are  heard  by  the  Appellate 
Term  of  the  Supreme  Court  for  the  second  department. 

Criminal  Courts  under  the  Charter.  As  we  have  seen 
above,  the  only  criminal  courts  provided  by  the  charter 
are  the  Court  of  Special  Sessions  and  the  Magistrates' 
Courts.  Neither  of  these  courts  can  try  a  case  of  felony, 
and  therefore  the  most  important  cases  go  to  the  Supreme 
Court,  the  County  Courts,  and  the  Court  of  General  Ses- 
sions. The  charter  merely  continues  these  lower  courts 
from  the  courts  which  existed  before,  and  does  not  contain 
the  law  governing  what  cases  they  may  try  or  how  they  shall 
try  them.  That  law  is  found  in  two  separate  statutes  known 
as  the  Penal  Code  and  the  Code  of  Criminal  Procedure. 

Court  of  Special  Sessions.  The  Court  of  Special  Sessions 
is  divided  into  two  divisions,  the  first  consisting  of  six 
judges,  whose  jurisdiction  extends  over  the  boroughs  of 
Manhattan  and  The  Bronx ;  the  second  of  six  judges,  with 
jurisdiction  over  the  other  three  boroughs.  Three  judges 
sit  together  to  hear  cases,  without  any  jury.  The  cases 


332   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

that  come  before  them  consist  of  small  offenses  which  may 
be  of  the  most  varied  description,  from  spitting  in  a  street 
car  to  using  the  American  flag  in  an  advertisement.  Vio- 
lations of  the  city  ordinances  are  misdemeanors  and  may 
be  tried  in  the  Court  of  Special  Sessions. 

Children's  Court.  So  few  years  ago  as  1898  there  was 
not  a  juvenile  court  in  the  world.  Before  that  time  in  the 
entire  United  States,  with  the  exception  of  New  York  and 
Massachusetts,  where  there  were  a  few  ineffective  laws 
permitting  "child  criminals"  to  be  tried  apart  from  adults, 
children  were  arrested,  indicted,  and  often  convicted  and 
sentenced  in  exactly  the.  same  manner  as  hardened  crimi- 
nals, and  usually  in  company  with  them.  This  should  never 
have  been  permitted,  as  children  are  not  criminals.  Through 
the  recognition  that  they  are  not  criminals  and  should  not 
be  treated  as  such,  twenty-two  states  of  the  Union  now 
have  some  form  of  legislation  for  juvenile  delinquents,  and 
a  large  number  of  cities  have  Children's  Courts  in  varying 
degrees  of  perfection.  In  New  York  City  a  special  branch 
of  the  Court  of  Special  Sessions  in  each  division  is  devoted 
to  hearing  cases  involving  children,  and  is  known  as  the 
Children's  Court.  It  is  presided  over  usually  by  one  judge, 
but  three  judges  will  sit  in  any  case  where  the  child  accused 
of  crime  asks  for  three  judges  instead  of  one.  The  court 
holds  its  sessions  in  a  different  building  from  the  regular 
courthouse.  It  is  an  unfortunate  fact  that  a  great  many 
children  are  arrested  for  misdemeanors,  so  that  one  judge 
in  each  division  of  the  city  is  kept  busy  trying  the  charges 
brought  against  them.  But  in  order  to  give  the  children 
a  chance  to  reform,  they  are  kept  away  from  the  older 
persons  of  vicious  habits  who  fill  our  criminal  courts  and 


THE  CITY  JUDICIARY  333 

jails,  and  for  this  purpose  the  Children's  Court  has  been 
established.  If  a  child  is  found  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor, 
the  court  may  send  him  to  some  charitable  institution 
where  his  bad  habits  will  be  corrected,  or  may  release  him 
under  the  charge  of  a  probation  officer. 

Magistrates'  Courts.  The  lowest  court  of  all  is  the 
Magistrates'  Court,  which  is  also  composed  of  two  divi- 
sions. It  consists  of  judges  who  sit  in  different  parts  of 
the  city,  as  in  the  case  of  the  justices  of  the  Municipal 
Court.  In  the  first  division  are  fourteen  magistrates,  who 
hold  court  in  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx  ;  in  the  second 
are  fifteen,  of  whom  ten  hold  court  in  Brooklyn,  three  in 
Queens,  and  two  in  Richmond.  All  are  appointed  by  the 
mayor.  It  is  provided  by  the  charter  that  the  magistrates 
in  Brooklyn,  Queens,  and  Richmond  shall  be  elected;  but 
the  Court  of  Appeals  has  held  that  provision  unconstitu- 
tional, and  therefore  the  mayor  appoints  these  magistrates 
as  well  as  those  who  sit  in  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx. 
The  principal  duty  of  the  magistrate  is  to  hear  charges  of 
crime  against  persons  who  have  been  arrested  or  whom  the 
police  think  ought  to  be  arrested.  If  the  magistrate  believes, 
after  listening  to  an  informal  statement  of  the  evidence, 
that  there  is  reasonable  ground  to  consider  the  accused 
guilty  of  a  crime,  he  holds  him  for  trial,  if  already  arrested, 
or  issues  a  warrant  for  his  arrest.  The  accused  person  is 
then  locked  up  in  prison  until  he  can  be  tried,  unless  he 
gives  bail,  that  is,  deposits  with  the  court  money  or  bond, 
which  is  forfeited  in  case  he  fails  to  appear  in  court  for 
trial  when  his  case  is  called.  When  the  offense  charged 
is  a  felony  the  magistrate  has  to  decide  not  whether  the 
prisoner  shall  be  tried,  but  whether  he  shall  be  required 


334   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

to  appear  before  the  grand  jury.  For  in  such  grave  cases 
as  felony  the  grand  jury  as  well  as  the  magistrate  must  be 
satisfied  of  the  probable  guilt  of  the  prisoner ;  and  if  they 
are  so  convinced,  they  indict  him  and  send  him  on  for  trial 
in  one  of  the  higher  courts. 

Where  the  charge  is  vagrancy  or  disorderly  conduct  the 
magistrate  may  hear  the  evidence  at  once  and  decide 
whether  or  not  the  prisoner  is  guilty.  If  the  prisoner  is 
convicted,  he  may  be  imprisoned  for  not  more  than  a  year 
for  some  offenses,  or  not  more  than  six  months  for  others, 
or  may  be  fined  for  not  more  than  ten  dollars.  Much  of  the 
time  of  the  magistrates  is  taken  up  in  hearing  these  cases. 

Summary.  Our  law  is  based  upon  the  customs  prevailing  in  Eng- 
land and  the  statutes  in  force  there  in  1776,  with  many  modifications 
made  by  the  legislature  since  that  date.  It  is  divided  into  criminal 
law  enforced  by  the  state  and  civil  law  enforced  by  individuals.  The 
criminal  law  deals  with  felonies  which  are  punishable  by  death  or 
imprisonment  in  the  state  prison,  and  less  serious  crimes  called  misde- 
meanors. The  civil  law  includes  law  cases,  where  the  offending  party 
is  required  to  pay  damages  in  money,  and  equity  cases,  where  the  court 
gives  special  relief.  Both  kinds  of  law  are  administered  by  the  courts, 
which  are  presided  over  by  judges.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  court  to  find 
out  .what  the  facts  are  in  each  case,  and  to  apply  the  Common  Law 
or  the  statutes  to  them.  The  facts  are  usually  determined  by  a  jury 
of  twelve  citizens,  while  the  law  is  construed  and  applied  by  the  judge. 
Of  the  courts  which  sit  in  New  York  City  only  the  lowest  come  under 
the  charter.  These  are  the  City  Court  and  the  Municipal  Court,  which 
try  small  civil  cases,  and  the  Court  of  Special  Sessions  and  the  Magis- 
trates' Courts,  which  try  misdemeanors.  Neither  of  the  civil  courts  can 
try  equity  cases  or  cases  where  the  amount  in  dispute  exceeds  two 
thousand  dollars,  and  neither  of  the  criminal  courts  can  try  felonies. 
A  branch  of  the  Court  of  Special  Sessions  is  devoted  exclusively  to  try- 
ing criminal  cases  against  children,  and  is  called  the  Children's  Court. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

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BOOTH,  MARY  L.,  History  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

BRODHEAD,  JOHN   ROMEYN,   Documents   Relative   to    the  Colonial 

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DAWES,  ANNA  LAURENS,  How  We  are  Governed. 
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Magazine  of  American  History). 
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— ,  Stage  Coach  and  Tavern  Days. 

EATON,  DORMAN  B.,  The  Government  of  Municipalities. 
FAIRLIE,  JOHN  ARCHIBALD,  Municipal  Administration. 
FISKE,  JOHN,  Civil  Government. 

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GRANT,  MRS.  ANNE,  Memoirs  of  an  American  Lady. 
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Battery  to  Bloomingdale. 

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336  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

GREEN,  ANDREW  H.,  Greater  New  York,  Writings  and  Addresses. 

HART,  ALBERT  BUSHNELL,  Actual  Government. 
— ,  Practical  Essays  on  American  Government. 

HASWELL,  CHARLES  H.,  Reminiscences  of  an  Octogenarian  of  the 
City  of  New  York. 

HEWITT,  ABRAM   S.,  Address  before  the   Chamber  of  Commerce, 
October  3,  1901. 

JANVIER,  THOMAS  A.,  In  Old  New  York. 

KNICKERBOCKER,  DIEDRICH,  A  History  of  New  York  from  the  Be- 
ginning of  the  World  to  the  End  of  the  Dutch  Dynasty. 

KNIGHT,  MADAME,  Private  Journal  kept  by   Madame  Knight  of  a 
Journey  from  Boston  to  New  York  in  the  Year  1 704. 

LAMB,  MRS.  MARTHA  J.,  History  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

LOSSING,  BENSON  J.,  History  of  New  York  City. 

MILLER,  REV.  JOHN,  A  Description  of  the  Province  and  City  of  New 
York,  with  Plans  of  the  City  and  Several  Forts,  1695. 

MINES,  JOHN  FLAVEL,  A  Tour  around  New  York  by  Felix  Oldboy. 

MORRIS,  IRA  K.,  Memorial  History  of  Staten  Island. 

O'CALLAGHAN,  E.  B.,   The  Documentary  History  of  the    State  of 

New  York. 

— ,  History  of  New  Netherland,  or  New  York  under  the  Dutch 
Rule. 

PALMER,  A.  EMERSON,  The  New  York  Public  School. 

PASKO,  W.  W.,  Old  New  York. 

PELLETREAU,  W.  S.,  Early  New  York  Houses. 

PETERMAN,  ALEX.  L.,  Elements  of  Civil  Government. 

RIKER,  JAMES,  Harlem :    Its  Origin  and  Early  Annals. 

ROBERTS,  ELLIS  H.,  New  York:    the  Planting  and  Growth  of  the 
Empire  State. 

ROOSEVELT,  THEODORE,  New  York  (Historic  Town  Series). 

,  Gouverneur  Morris. 

— ,  American  Ideals,  and  Other  Essays. 

SCHUYLER,  GEORGE  W.,  Colonial  New  York. 

SCOVILLE,  J.  L.,  The  Old  Merchants  of  New  York  City. 

SMITH,  THOMAS  E.  V.,  The  City  of  New  York  in  the  Year  of  Wash- 
ington's Inauguration,  1789. 

STONE,  WILLIAM  L.,  History  of  New  York  City. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  337 

THOMPSON,  BENJAMIN  F.,  History  of  Long  Island. 

TODD,  CHARLES  BURR,  The  Story  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

,  History  of  New  York  City. 

ULMANN,  ALBERT,  A  Landmark  History  of  New  York. 
VALENTINE,  DAVID  T.,  Manuals  of  the  Corporation  of  the  City  of 

New  York. 

,  History  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

WATSON,  JOHN  F.,  Historic  Tales  of  Olden  Times. 
WILCOX,  DELOS  FRANKLIN,  The  Study  of  City  Government. 
WILLOUGHBY,  WESTEL  WoODBURY,  Rights  and  Duties  of  American 

Citizenship. 
WILSON,  JAMES  GRANT,  The  Memorial  History  of  the  City  of  New 

York. 
An  Account  of  the  Origin  and  Progress  of  the  Free  School  Society, 

New  York,  1814. 
A  Sketch  of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Public  School  Society 

(presented  in  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Society,  1842). 
The  Eagle  Almanac  (published  by  The  Brooklyn  Eagle),  1904,  1905, 

1906. 

Greater  New  York,  The  Evening  Post  Publishing  Company,  1898. 
The  Annual  Reports  of  the  Mayor. 
The  Annual  Reports  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen. 
The    Annual   Reports   of  the   fifteen   executive   departments  of  the 

city   government,    and   also   those   of   the   numerous  executive 

boards. 

Reports  of  the  Civil  Service  Commission. 
Reports  of  the  Rapid  Transit  Commissioners. 

Reports  of  the  New  York  Clearing  House  ;   the  Chamber  of  Com- 
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exchanges. 
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York  in  the  editions  of  Charities  from  1898  to  1905. 
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C> 


INDEX 


Academy,  Female  Free,  90;  Free, 
89. 

Accountant,  public,  68. 

Accounts,  commissioners  of,  68. 

Administrative  departments  of  the 
city  government,  57-58,  6r,  64, 
249;  fifteen  in  number,  61.  See 
also  Departments. 

Albany,  4,  25,  169,  277,  311. 

Albany  and  Schenectady  Railway 
chartered,  170. 

Alderman,  first  appointment  of,  15. 
See  also  Board  of  Aldermen. 

Aldermanic  districts,  44. 

Almshouse,  the  first,  247. 

Ambulances,  232. 

American  colonies,  51. 

American  Museum  of  Natural  His- 
tory, 89. 

Amsterdam,  New  :  change  of  name 
of,  15;  charity  organizations  of, 
246-247;  description  of,  81-82; 
ferries  of,  216-217;  fire  regula- 
tions of,  157, 1 58 ;  method  of  light- 
ing, 134,  135 ;  name  of,  given,  10; 
police  regulations  of,  145,  146; 
proclaimed  as  a  city,  n,  22; 
schools  of,  81-83  ;  street  cleaning 
of,  109,  no;  system  of  finance 
of,  279;  taxation  of,  301. 

Amsterdam,  old,  5,  7,  10,  29. 

Analysis  of  foods,  232. 

Annual  Budget,  definition  of,  43, 
67,  68,  291,  299. 

Aquarium,  the,  190. 

Aqueduct  Commission,  70,  130. 

Arc  lights,  number  of,  141. 


Area  of  the  city,  61,  62,  299. 

Army  of  public  safety,  144,  145. 

Arson,  166. 

Art  Commission,  199,  200,  204. 

Ashes,  collection  and  disposal  of, 
117. 

Assembly,  the  general,  20,  83 ;  du- 
ties of,  20 ;  election  of  members 
of,  22  ;  under  the  Dongan  Char- 
ter, 23,  24. 

Associate  superintendents  of  the 
Board  of  Education,  102. 

Association  for  Improving  the  Con- 
dition of  the  Poor,  108;  Associa- 
tion of  Women  Friends  for  the 
Relief  of  the  Poor,  84. 

Astor,  John  Jacob,  92. 

Astor,  William  B.,  93. 

Astor  library,  93. 

Australian  system  of  voting,  30,  31. 

Ballot  box,  37. 

Ballot :  election  by,  37  ;  to  cast  a, 

36. 

Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  172. 
Bancker  Street,  85. 
Bank  charter,  123. 
Bank  Commission,  70. 
Bank  of  Manhattan,  1 24. 
Bank  of  New  York,  17. 
Barclay  Street,  16. 
Barnard  College,  88. 
Barren  Island,  117. 
Battery,  the,  173,  188,  208,  213. 
Bellevue  Hospital,  56,  88,  154,  247, 

252. 
Blackwell's  Island,  252. 


339 


340  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


BlackwelPs  Island  Bridge,  212. 

BlackwelPs  Island  institutions,  252, 
254,  257. 

Blind  of  the  city,  255. 

Bloomingdale  road,  74. 

Board  of  Aldermen,  40,  50,  54,  64, 
65>  67>  74>  76,  79'  J72»  269,  279, 
305,  306 ;  committees  in,  43,  44 ; 
election  of  members  of,  42  ;  heads 
of  executive  departments  are 
members  of,  47  ;  meetings  of,  48  ; 
number  of  members  of,  42 ;  powers 
and  duties  of,  42-51,  192,  305; 
president  of,  how  elected,  32 ; 
responsibilities  of,  50,  64,  67,  79; 
who  comprise,  42. 

Board  of  Armory  Commissioners, 
59.  72. 

Board  of  Assessors,  68,  69. 

Board  of  Building  Examiners,  72. 

Board  of  City  Record,  59,  72. 

Board  of  Education,  95-108 ;  com- 
mittees of,  96 ;  a  corporation,  97  ; 
meetings  of,  96 ;  members  of,  96 ; 
organization  of,  96 ;  powers  and 
duties  of,  97 ;  president  of,  96 ; 
terms  of  members  of,  96 ;  trustees 
for  Normal  College,  97. 

Board  of  Elections,  32,  34. 

Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportion- 
ment, 43,  58,  64 ;  duties  of,  64, 
65?  67,  79,  97,  204 ;  organization 
of,  65  ;  votes  of,  65. 

Board  of  Health.  See  Department 
of  Health. 

Board  of  Inspectors  of  Weights  and 
Measures,  72. 

Board  of  Metropolitan  Police,  147. 

Board  of  Regents,  87. 

Board  of  Revision  and  Assessments, 
69. 

Board  of  Sealers  of  Weights  and 
Measures,  72. 

Board  of  Superintendents,  101,  102. 


Board  of  Taxes  and  Assessments, 
302,  3°3- 

Board  of  Trustees  of  the  College  of 
the  City  of  New  York,  89. 

Boards  :  executive,  61 ;  local,  of  im- 
provement, 79. 

Bogardus,  Everardus,  7. 

Bonds,  43. 

Booth,  a  voting,  32,  36. 

Borough,  formation  of,  26,  27,  61, 

73- 
Borough  presidents,  61,  74,  76,  79; 

election  of,  74  ;  powers  and  duties 
of,  72-80;  removal  of,  74;  salary 
of,  74. 

Boroughs,  number  of,  and  how 
united,  74. 

Boston,  15,  169,  205. 

Botanical  Garden,  197. 

Botanical  Society,  197. 

Bowery,  the,  13,  212. 

Bowling  Green,  169,  188,  189,  205. 

Boyd's  Corners  reservoir,  129. 

Bradford  Street  Hospital,  256. 

Bradford^  Gazette,  16. 

Bridges  :  historical,  204-209  ;  kinds 
of,  204 ;  needs  of,  202,  203 ;  sys- 
tem of,  204. 

British  Crown,  governors  under,  15, 
51,  169. 

British  governors,  15,  51. 

Broadway,  90,  142,  169,  172. 

Bronck,  Jonas,  197. 

Bronx,  The,  27,  65,  74, 116,  132,  173, 
192,  197;  elevated  road  in,  173; 
parks  of,  196,  197;  powers  and 
duties  of  the  president  of,  74, 
76,  77- 

Bronx  River,  208. 

Brooklyn,  27,  62,  143,  202,  203,  249. 

Brooklyn  Bridge,  210,  211. 

Brooklyn  ferry,  217. 

Brooklyn  Institute  of  Arts  and 
Sciences,  89. 


INDEX 


341 


Brooklyn  parks,  191,  195. 

Brooklyn  Polytechnic,  89. 

Bryant  Square,  191. 

Bureau :  of  Baths  and  Public  Com- 
fort, 72  ;  of  Department  of  Docks 
and  Ferries,  220;  of  Department 
of  Finance,  294,  295,  296 ;  of  De- 
partment of  Health,  227-235 ;  of 
Department  of  Public  Charities, 
249-251;  of  Fire  Department,  161- 
166;  of  Highways,  70;  of  Law 
Department,  270-274;  of  libraries 
of  Board  of  Education,  105,  106; 
of  Licenses,  70 ;  of  New  Buildings, 
240,  241  ;  of  Police  Department, 
151-154;  of  Public  Buildings  and 
Offices,  70 ;  of  Sewers,  70 ;  of  Tene- 
ment House  Department,  239-243. 

Burgher  corps,  or  guards,  81,  145. 

Burgher  government  established,  22. 

Burghers,  n. 

Burgomasters  replaced  by  aldermen, 

15- 

Burr,  Aaron,  and  his  relation  to 
municipal  waterworks,  122-124. 

Cable  power,  172. 

Cabot,  John  Sebastian,  13. 

Canal  Street,  origin  of  name  of,  121, 

212. 

Carnegie,  Andrew,  libraries,  94. 

Castle  Garden,  189,  190. 

Central  Bridge,  207. 

Central  Park,  193-194. 

Chamber  of  Commerce,  286-288. 

Chamberlain,  first  one  appointed, 
68,  279,  294,  295. 

Charity,  early  organizations  of,  in 
New  York  City,  246-247. 

Charles  the  Second,  13,  22. 

Charter:  city,  21,  25;  Dongan,  23- 
24,  146;  Montgomerie,  24,  146, 
299,  300;  Reform,  281 ;  of  Greater 
New  York,  26,  27,  28,  40. 


Charter  of  Greater  New  York,  regu- 
lations of,  governing :  the  Board 
of  Aldermen,  40-42  ;  the  Board  of 
Education,  96,  97,  102  ;  the  bor- 
ough presidents,  74,  76;  the  City 
Judiciary,  327,  328,  329,  331  ;  the 
Department  of  Bridges,  203 ;  the 
Department  of  Docks  and  Ferries, 
218,  219;  the  Department  of 
Finance,  292  ;  the  Department  of 
Health,  225;  the  Department  of 
Parks,  191,  193,  199,  200;  the 
Department  of  Public  Charities, 
249 ;  the  Department  of  Taxes 
and  Assessments,  302 ;  the  Law 
Department,  268,  269 ;  the  mayor, 
54,  56,  57;  the  Police  Department, 
148. 

Charters,  Dutch,  10,  21,22;  English, 
23,  24. 

Chelsea  district  of  city,  221. 

Cherry  Street,  136. 

Chicago  Limited,  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road Special,  203. 

Children's  Court,  332. 

Chinatown,  62. 

Church,  the  first  building  of  a,  8. 

Church  Street,  16. 

Citizen,  how  one  may  become  a,  38, 
39 ;  a  shareholder  in  city  stocks, 
297-298. 

Citizenship,  38;  privileges  and  ob- 
ligations of,  38,  39. 

City,  the :  a  corporation,  68,  267, 
268,  281,  292,  297,  305;  the  two 
sides  of,  297  ;  franchises  of,  59,  67, 
172,  217,  222,  299,  300;  legislation 
of,  40,  41  ;  officials  of,  installed  in 
office,  37  ;  ordinances  of,  examples 
of,  41,  43;  parks  of,  187-198; 
stocks  of,  297,  298 ;  value  of 
parks  of,  300. 

City  clerk,  48,  50,  306. 

City  hall,  9,  53,  54,  56,  218. 


342  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


City  Health  Inspectors,  227-229. 

City  History  Club,  92. 

City  Hospital,  252,  253. 

City     Improvement      Commission, 

201. 

City  Judiciary,  320-335. 
City  Record,  48,  50,  67,  72,  303. 
Civil  courts  under  city  charter,  328, 

329- 

Civil  Service  Commission :  appoint- 
ments made  by,  318;  duties  of, 
312;  how  examinations  of,  are 
conducted,  314,  316,  317 ;  what  the 
term  means,  309;  who  comprise, 
312;  why  necessary,  310,  311. 

Civil  Service  Law:  how  New  York 
State  came  to  adopt,  310,  311; 
regulations  of,  312,  313,  314;  suits 
involving,  276,  277. 

Civil  War,  the,  160,  174,  210. 

Clearing  House,  New  York,  289, 
290,  291. 

Clinton,  Colonel  De  Witt,  84,  125. 

Code  of  Civil  Procedure,  329. 

Collect  Pond,  119,  170. 

College  of  the  City  of  New  York, 
56,  89,  90. 

Colonists,  5,  8,  9,  14,  24,  29. 

Colony  of  New  Netherland,  5-8, 
10-12,  20,  23,  24,  81,  168. 

Columbia  College,  87. 

Columbia  University,  16,  87. 

Commissioner:  of  Bridges,  203;  of 
Correction,  260,  261  ;  of  Docks 
and  Ferries,  213,  219,  221  ;  of 
Fire,  160;  of  Gas  and  Electricity, 
138;  of  Health,  225;  of  Parks, 
191,  192  ;  of  Police,  148,  1 52,  225 ; 
of  Public  Charities,  249  ;  of  Public 
Works,  77 ;  of  Water  Supply, 
Gas,  and  Electricity,  138. 

Commissioners  :  of  Accounts,  68  ;  of 
Aqueducts,  56 ;  of  Board  of  Elec- 
tions, 32,  34 ;  of  Sinking  Fund, 


220,  222,  294;  of  Taxes  and 
Assessments,  302,  303,  304. 

Committee  of  Appointment,  25,  51, 
146. 

Common  Council,  53,  208,  247. 

Commons,  The,  247,  299. 

Comptroller:  financial  as  well  as 
executive  officer,  281,  282,  292, 
293,  305;  first,  279;  how  elected, 
32  ;  member  of  Board  of  Estimate 
and  Apportionment,  65,  68  ;  mem- 
ber of  Board  of  Revision  of 
Assessments,  69. 

Coney  Island,  "mosquito  beds" 
back  of,  1 1 6. 

Congress  of  the  United  States,  61, 

327- 

Consolidated  Exchange,  286. 
Consolidation  of  the  five  boroughs, 

74- 
Constitution,  24,  25;  of  the  state  of 

New  York,  24-26,  218,  276;   of 

the  United  States,  27,  30. 
Contagious  diseases,  229. 
Continental  Army,  205. 
Continental  Congress,  298. 
Cooper  Institute,  91. 
Cooper,  Peter,  172. 
Corporal's  guard,  146. 
Corporation  :  educational  policy  of, 

86;  municipal,  20,  21,  54,  68,  70, 

267,  268,  275,  291,  292,  297,  298, 

305  ;  property  of,  299,  300. 
Corporation  counsel,  69,   268,  269, 

270,  274,  277. 

Correction,  Department  of,  259-266. 
Cottage  Colony,  256,  257. 
Council:  city,  25,  147  ;  Common,  53, 

208,  247  ;  first,  7, 9;  governor's,  24  ; 

of  nine  men,  22. 
Court:  of  Appeals,  327  ;  Children's, 

332  ;  Circuit,  327 ;  City,  328,  329  ; 

Criminal,  under  charter,  331,  332; 

Distict,    327,    328;    of    General 


INDEX 


343 


Sessions,  325,  327,  331  ;  Magis- 
trates', 3^8,  331,  333;  Marine,  329; 
Municipal,  328,  329,  330,  331,  333 ; 
Police,  146;  of  Record,  69;  of 
Special  Sessions,  325,  331,  332; 
Supreme,  325,  327,  328,  330,  331  ; 
Surrogate,  328 ;  United  States 
Circuit,  of  Appeals,  327. 

Coxhill  Fort,  205. 

Croton  Aqueduct,  94,  126,  127,  128, 
131,  209. 

Croton  dam:  first,  126-128;  new, 
129,  130;  reservoirs  of,  130. 

Croton   River,    125,    126,  129,    130, 

133- 

Croton  water  system :  commence- 
ment of  the,  124-126;  construc- 
tion of  first  dam  and  aqueduct, 
126-128. 

Cumberland  Hospital,  256. 

Cunard  Steamship  Line,  17. 

Cutting,  William,  218. 

"  Declaration  of  intention,"  38. 

Defendant,  327. 

Delegates  at  primaries,  34. 

Department:  of  Bridges,  202-212; 
of  Correction,  259-266;  of  Docks 
and  Ferries,  213-223;  of  Educa- 
tion, 81-108  ;  of  Finance,  279-296 ; 
of  Fire,  157-167;  of  Health,  224- 
237;  of  Law,  267-278;  of  Lec- 
tures, of  Board  of  Education,  106, 
107  ;  of  Parks,  187-201  ;  of  Police, 
144-1 56 ;  of  Public  Charities,  246- 
258  ;  of  Street  Cleaning,  109-1 18 ; 
of  Taxes  and  Assessments,  297- 
308 ;  of  Tenement  Houses,  237- 
245 ;  of  Water  Supply,  Gas,  and 
Electricity,  119-143. 

Departments,  fifteen  executive,  64, 
282. 

Dependent  classes  of  New  York 
City,  246. 


De  Peyster,  Abraham,  188;  mayor, 

247- 

Deputy  chief  of  Fire  Department, 
163. 

Deputy  commissioner :  of  correction, 
260;  of  docks,  219;  of  public 
charities,  249. 

Deputy  commissioners:  of  Police 
Department,  148;  of  taxes,  303, 
304 ;  of  Department  of  Tenement 
Houses,  239 ;  of  Water  Supply,  1 38. 

Dircksen,  Cornells,  216. 

Direcktors-General  of  New  Nether- 
land,  5-12,  29,  8 1,  1 68,  301. 

Directors  under  Board  of  Education, 
103,  104. 

Disinfection,  234,  235. 

District  superintendents  of  public 
schools,  102. 

Districts  under  the  municipal  gov- 
ernment, 61. 

Divisions  of  the  Department  of 
Finance,  295-296. 

Docks  and  Ferries,  Department  of, 
213-223. 

Docks,  wet  and  dry,  214. 

Dongan  Charter,  23,  24;  harbor 
privileges  of,  216. 

Duke  of  York,  13,  23. 

Duke's  Laws,  15,  20. 

Dutch  charters,  10,  21,  22. 

Dutch  colonial  days,  299. 

Dutch  colonists,  301. 

Dutch :  forefathers  of,  202  ;  method 
of  house  and  street  lighting  of, 
134,  135  ;  settlements  of,  4. 

Dutch  House  of  Entertainment, 
The,  9,  82. 

Dutch  possessions  in  America,  22. 

Dutch  Reformed  Church,  9. 

Dynamos,  number  of,  in  city,  141. 

East  River,  73,  116,  249;  bridges 
over,  210-212. 


344  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


Education,  Department  of,  81-108. 

Educational  advantages  of  city, 
86-108. 

Elections :  Board  of,  32-37 ;  how 
conducted,  32,  34 ;  officers  of,  34, 
35'  S^ !  primary,  34 ;  voting  at, 

36,  37- 
Electors'    rights    in    colonial    days, 

29,  30. 

Electric  plants,  140. 
Electric  railways,  173. 
Electric  wires,  139. 
Electrical  Bureau,  141-143. 
Electricity,  introduction  of,  135, 172. 
Elevated  railway,  172,  173. 
Elizabethtown,  216. 

Eminent  domain,  68,  272. 

Employment  certificates  of  child- 
labor  law,  230. 

England,  13,  14. 

English  charters,  22,  23,  24. 

English :  city  taken  by  the,  24 ;  city 
under  the  dominion  of  the,  15,  16, 

30,  286. 

English  crown,  216. 
English  governors,  15,  301. 
English  invasion,  13,  22. 

English  made  the  official  language, 

15- 

Episcopal  Church,  20,  83. 

Equity,  324. 

Erie  Basin,  216. 

Erie  Canal,  17. 

Estimate  and  Apportionment.  See 
Board  of  Estimate  and  Appor- 
tionment. 

Europe,  41,  170,  223. 

Evening  schools  of  Board  of  Edu- 
cation, 105. 

Executive  boards  of  municipal  gov- 
ernment, 64-70. 

Executive  branch,  28,  61. 

Executive  chief,  61. 

Executive  districts,  61. 


Farmers'  Bridge,  206. 

Federal  capital,  136.          » 

Federal  government,  146. 

Federal  service,  309. 

Ferry    on    East    River,    first,    73, 

299. 

Fifth  Avenue,  94. 
Fifty-ninth     Street     power    house, 

141. 

Filtering  plants,  Brooklyn,  133. 
Finance :  Department  of,  279-296 ; 

development  of  city's  system  of, 

281,  282;  during  colonial  period, 

279. 
Fire  Alarm  and  Telegraph  Bureau, 

162. 

Fire  apparatus,  161. 
Fire  boats,  161. 
Fire  marshals,  166. 
Firemen,  160,  277  ;  qualifications  of, 

163;  training  of,  163,  164. 
Fitch,  John,  170. 
Fordham  Heights  Bridge,  210. 
Formation  of  boroughs,  26,  73. 
Fort  Amsterdam,  4,  81,  82,  145. 
Fort  Orange,  4,  205. 
Franchises,  59,  64,  68,  172,  217,  218, 

293- 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  colonial  post- 
master general,  169. 

Fulton,  Robert,  170,  218. 

Fur  trade,  4. 

Garbage,  117. 

Gas,  introduction  of,  135,  136. 

Gas  factories  of  city,  140. 

Gas  pipes,  139. 

Ghetto,  The,  62. 

Government:  the  three  branches  of, 

28;    executive,   28;    judicial,   28; 

legislative,  28 ;  municipal,  39,  267, 

268,  292,  308 ;  property  of,  299, 

300. 
Governors  Island,  8. 


INDEX 


345 


Greater    New    York,    27,    51,    61  ; 

schools  of,  96,  99,  100. 
Greenwich  Village,  169. 
Greta  Dock,  the,  15. 

Hale,  Nathan,  statue  of,  295. 

Half  Moon,  The,  3,  4. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  122. 

Hamilton  Square,  91. 

Harlem,  18,  142,  169,  173,  204. 

Harlem  River  bridges,  204,  207,  209, 
210. 

Hart's  Island,  institutions  on,  260, 
261. 

Health :  of  city,  how  maintained, 
224;  Department  of,  224-237. 

Health  Officer  of  the  Port,  225. 

Health  Squad,  227. 

Heights  :  Morningside,  87 ;  St.  Nich- 
olas, 90;  University,  88. 

Henry  Street,  85. 

Hessians,  205. 

Hester  Street  school  building,  100. 

Hewitt,  Abram  S.,  175. 

High  Bridge,  127,  209. 

Holland,  3,  9,  10,  22,  29,  81,  119. 

Homes  for  the    Aged  and   Infirm, 

254. 

Horse-car  lines,  172. 

Hospitals,  231,  232. 

Houston  Street,  142. 

Hudson,  Henry,  discoverer  of  Man- 
hattan Island,  3,  4,  21. 

Hudson  River,  5,  168. 

Incinerator,  115. 

Indians,  trade  with,  4. 

Indian  war  during  the  Kieft  admin- 
istration, 9. 

Inspectors :  of  Board  of  Health, 
227,  228,  229;  of  Bureau  of  Elec- 
tricity, 142, 143;  of  Police  Depart- 
ment, 149;  of  tenement  houses, 
241-244 ;  of  the  water  supply,  133. 


Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany, 1 80. 

Interurban  Railway  Company,  172. 
Irving,  Washington,  206. 

Jackson,  President,  310. 

James,  Duke  of  York,  13 ;  fort 
named  for,  15. 

Jerome  Park  reservoir,  130. 

Judicial  branch  of  city  government, 
28. 

Judicial  districts,  330. 

Judicial  procedure,  324,  325. 

Jury,  326. 

Justices  of  the  peace,  first  appoint- 
ment of,  146. 

Juvenile  Citizens'  League,  92. 

Kerosene  lamps,  first  use  of,  136. 
Kieft,  William,  direcktor,  8-9. 
Kindergarten  Association,  the  New 

York,  92. 

Kindergarten  schools,  103,  256. 
Kingsbridge,  204,  205,  206. 
King's  Bridge,  205. 
King's  College,  16,  87. 
Kings  County,  62,  327. 
Kings  County  Hospital,  256. 
Kings  County  penitentiary,  260. 
Kip  Bay  Farm,  249. 
Knickerbocker,  Diedrich,  8. 
Knickerbocker  housewives,  1 10, 134. 
Knickerbocker  Tales,  206. 

Laboratories  of  Department  of 
Health,  232,  233. 

Lafayette,  189. 

Law:  Common, 320, 322,326;  Crimi- 
nal, 322-323;  Department  of,  267- 
278;  the  source  of,  320. 

League  for  Political  Education,  the, 
91. 

Lenox,  James,  93. 

Lexington  Avenue,  89. 


346  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


Library,  first  public,  16,  92. 
Library  :    system,  92-94 ;    the   new 

public,  128. 
Lighting,    the    present    system    of, 

139-140. 

Lind,  Jenny,  189. 
Little  Germany,  62. 
Little  Hungary,  62. 
Little  Italy,  62. 
Long  Island  City,  268. 

Macomb's  Dam  Bridge,  207. 

Madison  Avenue  Bridge,  209,  210. 

Madison  Square,  190,  191. 

Maiden  Lane  named,  12. 

Mail  route  established  between  New 
York  and  Boston,  15,  169. 

Manhattan,  borough  of,  62,  74,  143, 
148,  160,  179,  180,  192,  197,  260, 
284. 

Manhattan  Bank,  124. 

Manhattan  Bridge,  211,  212. 

Manhattan  Island,  4,  6,  119,  176, 
189,  279;  derivation  of  name  of, 
6 ;  purchase  of,  6. 

Manumission  Society,  83. 

Maritime  Exchange,  288. 

Marlbo rough  road,  the  old,  169. 

Massachusetts,  30. 

Mayor,  51-59 ;  duties  and  powers  of, 
56-59,  68,  70,  76,  79,  269,  292,  294, 
305  ;  first,  15,  25  ;  how  elected  at 
present  time,  32  ;  importance  of 
office  of,  51  ;  installed  in  office,  37 ; 
judges  appointed  by,  333;  mem- 
ber of  important  boards,  58,  59; 
removable  by  governor  of  state, 
59;  salary  of,  54;  term  of,  54; 
veto  power  of,  57. 

Meters,  electrical  and  gas,  138. 

Metropolitan  Hospital,  252,  254. 

Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  194. 

Metropolitan  Railway,  141. 

Milestones,  169. 


Military  duty  obligatory  according 

to  law  of  New  York  State,  23. 
Minuit,  Peter,  5-7  ;  and  first  direck- 

tors-general,  5-9. 
Monacknong,     Indian    name    for 

Staten  Island,  202. 
Mongolian,  restrictions  against,  38. 
Montgomerie  Charter,  24,  146,  299, 

300. 

Morgues,  city,  251. 
Morris,  Gouverneur,  17. 
Mulberry  Street,  152. 
Municipal   Explosive    Commission, 

72. 

Municipal  lodging  house,  251. 
Murray  Street,  16. 

Naphtha  lamps,  140. 
Naturalization  of  the  foreign  born, 

38-39- 

Nautical  school,  under  Board  of 
Education,  105. 

New  Amsterdam,  description  of,  81, 
119. 

New  Dorp,  Staten  Island,  256. 

New  Netherland,  name  of  province, 
22. 

New  Netherland  Company,  4 ;  char- 
ters of,  21,  22,  29;  name  of,  22; 
province  of,  13,  14,  15,  20,  29, 
81. 

New  York  City :  Clearing  House  of, 
289-291  ;  consolidation  of,  26,  27  ; 
dependent  classes  in,  246;  early 
charters  of,  21-25;  educational 
advantages  of,  86-108;  growth 
of,  15,  16,  17,  18,  61,  62,  268,  282, 
283,  299,  300;  named,  15;  present 
charter  of,  27-28;  recaptured  by 
Dutch,  15;  the  old  city,  65,  224, 
268;  under  British  rule,  17. 

New  York  Edison  Company,  elec- 
trical power  of,  141. 

New  York  harbor,  215,  216. 


INDEX 


347 


New  York  Kindergarten  Associa- 
tion, 92. 

New  York  School  of  Art,  89. 

New  York  School  of  Design,  89. 

New  York  State,  23,  43  ;  constitu- 
tion of,  24,  25,  32;  population  of, 
62. 

New  York  Times  building,  185. 

New  York  University,  88. 

New  York  Zoological  Society,  197. 

Nicolls,  Richard,  14,  15. 

Nicolls  Charter,  Governor,  23. 

Normal  College,  90,  91. 

North  River,  300. 

Oil,  introduction  of,  135,  136. 
Old  post  road,  the,  205. 
Olmsted,  Frederick  Law,  193. 
Omnibus  first  used,  170. 
Ordinance:  city,  41,  42,  46,  48,  58; 
early,  109,  no. 

Park  Board,  191-192. 

Park,  commissioners  of,  191. 

Park  Row,  284. 

Park  Row  building,  138. 

Park:  Central,  127,  193-194;  Pros- 
pect, 132,  194-195;  The  Bronx, 
196-197. 

Parks :  of  The  Bronx,  196-197 ; 
older,  of  the  five  boroughs,  189- 
191 ;  statuary  of  the,  198-199. 

Partisan  service,  310. 

Patrolmen,  145,  149,  152,  155. 

Patroons,  7,  9,  169. 

Paulus  Hook,  202,  216,  218. 

Pearl  Street,  8,  12. 

Peck's  Slip,  216. 

Pelham  Bay  Park,  196. 

Penitentiary,  260,  262. 

Pensions  :  of  Fire  Department,  166- 
167  ;  of  Police  Department,  147, 
148. 

People's  Institute,  91. 


Petroleum,  discovery  of,  135. 

Philadelphia,  169,  203. 

Phillipse,  205. 

Plaintiff,  327. 

Playgrounds,  48,  107,  1 08. 

Piers,  214,  215,  220,  221. 

Police  boats,  154. 

Police  captains,  1 50. 

Police  commissioners,  148-149.' 

Police  court,  146. 

Police  Department,  144-156. 

Police  force,  147,  277. 

Police  inspectors,  149-150. 

Police  matrons,  155. 

Police  officers,  149. 

Police  precincts,  149. 

Police  sergeants,  150-151. 

Police  system,  146. 

Political  Education,  League  for,  91. 

Political  parties,  34. 

Polling  place,  32,  34. 

Post  office,  the  first,  17. 

Potter's  field  on  Hart's  Island,  251. 

Poverty  Hollow,  62. 

Pratt  Institute,  89. 

President  of  the  Board  of  Alder- 
men, 32,  46,  47. 

President  of  the  United  States,  32, 
61. 

Presidents  of  the  boroughs,  65,  74, 

75.  76,  77.  79- 
Primaries,  34. 

Prison  regulations,  264-265. 
Prisoners,  treatment  of,  261-264. 
Privileges  and  Exemption  Charter, 

6. 

Probation  officers,  325. 
Produce  Exchange,  288. 
Property,  taxable,  299. 
Prospect  Park,  194-195. 
Public  Educational  Association,  91. 
Public  lamps,  140. 
Public  library,  the  new,  128. 
Public  thoroughfares,  140. 


348  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


Quarantine,  231. 

Queens:  borough  of,  27,132; 
county  of,  62,  328;  fire  regula- 
tions of  bo  rough  of,  159-1 60;  pres- 
ident of  borough  of,  65,  74,  in, 
192. 

Quick  aid  to  the  injured,  107. 

Randall's  Island  institutions,  255- 
256. 

Rapid  Transit  Commission :  organ- 
ization of,  173-175;  powers  and 
duties  of,  175. 

Rapid  Transit  Railway,  176-186. 

Rattle  Watch,  The,  146. 

Reade  Street,  124. 

Reception  Hospital  at  Coney  Island, 
256. 

Reform  schools,  265. 

Registration  books,  36. 

Relief  fund  and  pensions.  See  Pen- 
sions. 

Reservoirs,  94,  130,  131. 

Revolution,  era  of,  16,  17,  24,  30,  51, 
83,  122,  146,  205,  218,  298,  301, 
320. 

Richmond:  borough  of,  27,  62,  132, 
159,  160,  192;  president  of  bor- 
ough of,  65,  74,  in,  192. 

Richmond  County,  62,  328;  alms- 
house  in,  256. 

Riker's  Island,  116,  260. 

Riparian  owners,  217. 

River  of  the  Mountains,  4. 

"Road  to  the  Ferry,"  81. 

Roadstead,  The,  216. 

Roebling,  John  A.,  210. 

Roelantsen,  Adam,  7,  81. 

Roundsmen,  151. 

Rutgers,  Colonel,  85. 

Sailors'  Snug  Harbor,  59. 

St.  Mark's  Chapel,  13. 

St.  Marys,  school-ship,  105. 


Sanitary  Bureau  of  Health  Depart- 
ment, 227. 

Sanitary  Code,  226. 

Savannah,  the  first  steamship,  17. 

Schepens,  11. 

School  buildings,  98,  99. 

School  gymnasiums,  100,  104. 

School  libraries,  105,  106. 

School  playgrounds,  107. 

School  population,  99. 

School  roof  gardens,  100. 

Schoolrooms,  100. 

School  system,  when  established, 
83-86. 

School-teachers,  number  of,  102. 

Schools  :  New  York,  81-108 ;  during 
English  occupancy,  82,  83 ;  early 
history  of,  81,  82  ;  first  free  public, 
83  ;  parochial,  89. 

Schout-fiscal,  7,  15,  22. 

Secretary  of  War,  220,  221. 

Sinking  fund,  59,  70;  definition  of, 
293  ;  of  New  York  City,  293,  294, 

3°5- 
Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty 

to  Children,  251. 

Solarium  of  the  City  Hospital,  253. 
Soldiers  and  sailors'  memorial  arch, 

'95- 

"  Split  ticket,"  32. 

Spuyten  Duyvil,  204,  206,  300. 

Stadt  Huys,  9. 

State:  constitution  of,  218;  funds 
of,  95;  governor  of,  70,  126,  218; 
legislature  of,  in  its  relation  to 
city  government,  20,  21,  25,  27, 
28,  59,  89,  95-96,  148,  218,  239. 

Staten  Island,  74,  201,  216. 

States-general  of  Holland,  4,  7,  9, 
10,  22,  29. 

Statuary  in  city  parks,  198,  199. 

Stephenson,  George,  170. 

Stock  Exchange,  284,  285. 

Stone  Street  named,  12,  no. 


INDEX 


349 


"  Straight  ticket,"  31. 

Street  cars,  first,  171. 

Street  Cleaning  Department :  care 
of  ashes  and  sweepings,  115,  1 16 ; 
commissioner  of,  u-i ;  disposal  of 
street  waste,  no,  in,  113,  114; 
organization  of,  no,  in;  origin 
of,  109,  1 10  ;  use  of  the  incinerator 
by,  115;  use  made  of  city's  waste 
by,  116,  117. 

Street  railway,  beginning  of,  170. 

Stuyvesant,  Peter, 9, 10, 12,14,  22,30. 

Subtreasury  of  theUnited  States,  289. 

Subway,  177;  Brooklyn  division  of, 
179  ;  features  of,  181-186;  man- 
ner of  construction  of,  176,  177; 
roadbed,  trains,  and  stations  of, 
178,  179;  terms  of  contract  for, 
1 80,  181  ;  waterproofing  process 
in,  177,  178. 

Suffrage,  29. 

Suffrage  privileges  in  colonial  days, 
29. 

Sumner's  Life  of  Jackson,  310. 

Superintendent  of  city  schools,  96, 
98,  101,  102,  103. 

Tax  books,  303,  304,  305. 

Tax  records,  304. 

Tax  rolls,  303-304. 

Taxation,  274,  297-298;  early,  301, 

302  ;  rate  of,  305. 
Taxes  and  Assessments  :  Board  of, 

302,  303  ;  collectors  of  taxes,  301 ; 

payment  of,  306,  308 ;    Receiver 

of,  301,  306. 

Taxpayer,  298,  306,  308. 
Teachers  College,  87. 
Telegraph,  first,  18. 
Telephone    and  Telegraph   Bureau 

of  Police  Department,  151,  152. 
Tenement  House  commissioner,  239. 
Tenement  House  Department,  237- 

245- 


Tenement  House  Law,  238,  240,  274. 

Terms  of  judges,  328. 

Third  rail,  143. 

Tombs,  the  prison,  260. 

Tombs  School,  91. 

Towns :  development  of,  20 ;  early 

New    York,    19;    government   of 

colonial,  20. 
Transportation,   early  methods    of, 

1 68. 

Tuberculosis  infirmary,  254. 
Twenty-ninth  Street,  173. 
Twenty-third  Street,  89. 

Underground  road,  176. 

United  New  Netherland  Company, 

4- 

United  States,  38,  39,  44,  51,  61,  220. 

University  of  New  York,  88,  91. 

University   of    the    State    of    New- 
York,  86;  Regents  of,  91. 

Untaxed  property,  299,  300. 

Vacation  schools,  107. 

Vaccination,  231. 

Van  Cortlandt  Park,  196. 

Van  Rensselaer,  the  patroon,  7: 

Van  Twiller,  Wouter,  7,  8,  Si. 

Vaux,  Calvert,  193. 

Veto :     borough     president's,     76 ; 

mayor's,  48,  57. 
Viaduct  of  Rapid  Transit  Railway, 

1 86. 

Vote,  right  to,  36. 
Vote,  right  to  challenge,  36. 
Voting,  36. 
Voucher,  292. 

Wall  Street,  13,  82,  119,  124. 
Ward,  an  election,  24. 
Warrants,  292,  306. 
Washington  Arch,  198. 
Washington  Bridge,  209. 
Washington,  city  of,  220,  309. 


350  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


Washington,  George,  136. 
Washington  Heights  tunnel,  183. 
Washington  Park,  191. 
Washington  Square,  191. 
Waterfront,  213;  size  of,  214. 
Water  mains,  132,  140. 
Water  supply,  43,  125,  132. 
Watersheds  of  the  Croton    River, 

126. 

Webster,  Noah,  16. 
Wells,  public,  119. 
West  India  Company,  6,  7,  9,  10, 

14,  20;  charter  of,  22. 
Westchester  County,  125,  130,  205, 

206. 
Whitehall  Street,  12,  213. 


Willett,  Thomas,  15. 
William  and  Mary,  24. 
Williams,  John,  208. 
Williamsbridge,  208. 
Williamsburg  Bridge,  211. 
Wilson's  Memorial  History  of  New 

York,  6. 
Workhouse,  260. 

Yiddish,  107. 
Yonkers,  205. 

Zoological   Garden  of   The   Bronx 

Park,  197. 
Zoological  Society,  197. 


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OCT  3*-*9a 


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